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BY  HOME  PROJECTS 
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VOCATION.\L   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


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THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK    •    BOSTON   ■    CHICAGO  •    DALLAS 
ATLANTA    •    SAN    FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN   &   CO.,  Limited 

LONDON   •    BOMBAY   -    CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL 

EDUCATION 

BY    HOME    PROJECTS 


BY 
RUFUS    W.    STIMSON 

STATE    SUPERVISOR    OF    VOCATIONAL 
AGRICULTURAL    EDUCATION    IN 

MASSACHUSETTS 


"  The  better  part  of  courage  is  the  courage  of 
having  done  the  thing  before  "  —  Emerson 


THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

1919 

All  rights  reserved 

3  i^  H  H  Z 


Copyright,  1Q19. 
By  the  MACMILLAN   COMPANY. 

Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  May,  1919. 


yortoooO  prfss 

J.  S.  Gushing  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 

Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


I 


TO 
H.   M.  S. 


PREFACE 

The  Act  of  Congress  known  as  the  "Smith-Hughes  Act  "  requires 
at  least  six  months  a  year  of  "supervised  practice  in  agriculture," 
either  on  a  farm  provided  for  by  a  school  or  on  some  other  farm. 
This  minimum  requirement  must  be  met  by  all  who  desire  federal  aid 
for  vocational  agricultural  education. 

The  home-project  plan,  reviewed  in  the  follownng  pages,  meets  this 
requirement.  Plant  projects,  from  the  preparation  of  the  land  to  the 
storage  or  the  disposal  of  the  products,  have  a  natural  life  of  fully  six 
months.  Animal  projects  are  better  for  supervision,  nine,  ten,  or 
eleven  months  a  year. 

Typewritten  and  multigraphed  memoranda,  also  special  reports 
and  bulletins  of  the  Board  of  Education,  have  set  forth  certain  features 
of  the  home-project  plan,  from  time  to  time,  for  the  information  of 
the  Legislature  and  of  those  teaching  agriculture  in  Massachusetts. 
They  have  not  been  prepared  in  such  quantities,  nor  published  in 
such  editions,  as  to  permit  of  general  distribution. 

Special  addresses  and  papers  by  the  author,  on  one  or  another 
phase  of  the  plan,  have  appeared  in  various  publications,  such  as  the 
"Proceedings  of  the  Harvard  Teachers'  Association,"  "Transactions 
of  the  Massachusetts  Horticultural  Society,"  "  Report  of  the  Canadian 
Seed  Growers  Association,"  the  Quarterly  of  Alpha  Zeta,  Business 
America,  the  New  England  Homestead,  the  Congregationalist  and  the 
Christian  World,  the  School  Review,  the  "Yearbook  of  the  National 
Society  for  the  Study  of  Education,"  and  American  Education.  A 
hundred-page  description  of  the  plan  was  published  in  1914,  as  Bul- 
letin No.  579,  by  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education. 

Calls  for  information  from  without  the  state,  —  greatly  multiplied 
since  the  passage  of  the  Smith-Hughes  Act,  —  and  lack  of  available 
printed  matter,  have  prompted  the  preparation  of  this  book.  Its 
chapters  are  chapters  of  experience.     The  author  has  undertaken  at 

vii 


viii  PREFACE 

all  points  to  support  precept  by  example.  Materials  have  been  as- 
sembled, revised,  and  supplemented.  Up-to-the-minute  information, 
therefore,  is  herewith  presented. 

This  book  is  published,  primarily,  as  a  contribution  to  the  study  of 
efficient  vocational  education;  but  it  has  paragraphs  of  importance 
to  the  economist  and  the  sociologist.  It  has  been  asked  for  as  a  text, 
or  reference  book,  for  use  in  agricultural  teacher-training ;  and  as  a 
guide-book  to  beginners  in  vocational  agricultural  teaching.  High 
school  principals,  and  teachers  of  science  and  mathematics,  civics,  and 
English,  may  find  in  it  support  for  efforts  to  make  their  high  schools 
interlock  with  life,  —  to  teach,  at  least  in  part,  in  terms  of  their  im- 
mediate school  environments. 

For  the  convenience  of  the  reader,  the  table  of  contents  is  given  in 
two  parts.  On  the  first  page,  the  scope  of  the  book  may  be  seen  at 
a  glance.     On  the  next  pages  there  is  a  more  detailed  analysis. 

Many  of  the  half-tones  are  from  the  negatives  from  which  the 
colored  sKdes  and  transparencies  were  made  for  the  Massachusetts 
vocational  education  exhibit  that  was  awarded  the  Grand  Prix  at  the 
Panama-Pacific  Exposition.  But  there  has  been  no  resting  on  ancient 
laurels.     The  illustrations  include  the  best  features  of  the  moment. 

Photographs  and  negatives  furnished  by  the  agricultural  instructors, 
directors,  and  others  are  elsewhere  acknowledged. 

The  illustrations,  as  a  rule,  are  arranged  so  as  to  picture  the  hom.e- 
project  plan  in  a  progressive  order.     But  they  are  kept  in  touch 
with  the  text  by  frequent  cross-references. 
Perfection  is  far  from  having  been  reached. 

The  degree  of  success  so  far  attained  in  Massachusetts  is  due  to  the 
capable  cooperation  of  local  directors  and  superintendents  of  schools ; 
to  the  resourceful  initiative  and  untiring  efforts  of  the  agricultural  in- 
structors ;  to  the  assistance  of  federal  and  state  departments  of  agri- 
culture and  forestry,  and  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education ; 
to  the  agricultural  colleges  and  experiment  stations  of  this  and  other 
states  which  have  been  most  liberal  in  furnishing  bulletins  and  cir- 
culars of  agricultural  information  ;  to  the  local  press  which  has  given 
generous  space  to  notices  and  results ;  to  the  Massachusetts  Agricul- 
tural College,  which,  in  its  Extension  Service,  instead  of  employing  a 


PREFACE  ix 

multitude  of  little  men,  has  employed  a  moderate  number  of  relatively 
big  men,  specialists  capable  of  meeting  emergency  calls  from  local 
instructors  for  expert  help,  and  which  has  been  host  at  valuable  con- 
ferences ;  and  to  the  wise  counsel  and  unfailing  support  of  the  com- 
missioners and  deputy  commissioners  of  education,  under  whose  ad- 
ministrations the  plan  has  been  developed.  Grateful  acknowledgment 
is  here  made  to  all  who  have  gi\'en  of  their  time  and  talent. 

Throughout  the  book,  the  author  has  intended  to  give  due  credit 
to  those  whose  exemplifications  of,  or  whose  contributions  to,  the 
home-project  plan  he  has  described.  To  the  Board  of  Education  for 
the  loan  of  photographs  and  the  right  to  reproduce  materials  from  the 
files  of  his  department,  to  Professor  Hanus  for  his  kind  "Introduction," 
and  to  the  Outlook  for  permission  to  print  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott's  account 
cf  his  tour  among  the  home-project  pupils  and  instructors  in  Massa- 
chusetts, the  author  is  particularly  indebted. 

The  manuscript  of  this  book  was  sent  to  the  publishers  June  i,  191 8. 
Unavoidable  delays  in  the  manufacturing  department,  due  to  the 
war  with  Germany,  have  made  it  possible  to  include  some  interesting 
recent  data.  Revisions  which  would  have  occasioned  still  further  de- 
lays have  been  avoided,  such  as  substitution  of  191 8  figures,  in  place 
of  those  of  191 7,  in  statistics  on  enrollment  and  earnings.  / 

Inasmuch  as  this  is  intended  to  be  an  authoritative  source  book 
for  information  about  the  Massachusetts  home-project  plan,  these 
delays  are,  perhaps,  fortunate ;  for  they  permit  the  author  to  an- 
nounce here  two  new  rulings,  dating  from  February,  1919,  affecting 
high  school  agricultural  departments  in  this  state.  The  Massachusetts 
Board  of  Education  will  hereafter  permit  the  vocational  agricultural 
instructor  in  a  small  high  school,  where  there  are  only  three  or  four 
teachers,  to  serve  as  principal ;  and  to  teach  chemistry,  physics, 
botany,  and  biology. 

Permission  will  be  premised  upon  four  definite  conditions.  It  will 
be  given,  when  the  pupils  desiring  the  agricultural  course  are  too  few 
to  require  an  agricultural  instructor  full  time.  At  least  one  full  half- 
day  of  school  time  daily  must  be  reserved  for  the  program  described 
in  Fig.  57  on  p.  73 ;  but  a  pupil  who  desires  to  prepare  for  the  Agri- 
cultural College  may  be  excused  from  the  first,  "Agricultural  Survey," 


X  PREFACE 

period,  in  order  to  take  algebra,  geometry,  or  any  other  subject  re- 
quired for  college  entrance  credit,  and  his  agricultural  instruction  in 
school  time  may  be  reduced  to  ninety  consecutive  minutes  daily. 
All  agricultural  pupils  must  carr\'  on  supervised  farm  work  as  the 
foundation,  or  indispensable  accompaniment,  of  this  instruction  at 
least  six  months  every  year.  Pupils  who  are  not  preparing  for  an 
agricultural  college  must  devote  the  entire  half-day  of  school  time  to 
this  vocational  agricultural  study  or  work. 

The  author  was  prompted  to  recommend  these  new  rulings  by 
desire  to  give  boys  attending  the  smaller  high  schools  out  among 
the  farms  as  good  an  opportunity  to  study  agriculture  as  is  now  given 
boys  from  farms  which  are  near  the  larger  high  schools ;  and  by  de- 
sire to  support  the  efforts  of  his  colleagues,  who  are  responsible  for 
supervision  of  state-aided  high  schools,  to  encourage  the  employment 
of  principals  who  are  sympathetic  towards  the  best  in  country  life 
and  who  are  as  much  interested  in  preparing  pupils  for  successful  farm- 
ing careers,  as  they  are  in  preparing  pupils  for  college.  By  designating 
another  teacher  as  vice-principal,  and  by  delegating  to  the  vice-prin- 
cipal the  ordinary  chores  of  record  keeping  and  the  like,  the  principal 
will  be  as  free  as  the  agricultural  instructor  heretofore  has  been,  to 
conduct  agricultural  work  and  study  outside  the  school  building 
and  away  from  the  school  premises.  During  the  earlier  stages  of 
development  of  this  new  plan,  it  was  considered  best  that  the  voca- 
tional instructor  should  give  his  entire  time  and  attention  to  his 
agricultural  teaching.  With  the  plan  better  developed,  it  is  now 
hoped  to  extend  instruction  to  the  smaller  high  schools  with  only 
boys  enough  to  require  half  of  the  agricultural  teacher's  time. 

Of  course,  more  nearly  permanent  tenure  of  office  was  also  an  im- 
portant reason  for  these  new  rulings.  We  have  always  held  that 
the  agricultural  instructor  may  be  paid,  and  ought  to  be  paid,  what 
he  is  worth,  without  regard  to  the  salary  schedule  for  the  rest  of  the 
high  school  staff.  Consequently,  the  agricultural  instructor's  salary 
has  not  only  equaled  the  salaries  of  other  teachers,  but  has  even  ex- 
ceeded, in  some  cases,  that  of  the  principal.  This  has  occasioned  un- 
rest, sometimes  even  ill-will.  That  the  agricultural  instructor's  salary 
generally  covers,  not  only  services  in  the  classroom,  but  also  services 


PREFACE  xi 

awheel  which  tax  his  purse  two  to  four  hundred  dollars  a  year,  has  not 
relieved  such  situations.  As  principal  and  agricultural  instructor,  a 
good  man  may  now  be  paid  what  he  is  worth,  and  may  be  held  more 
permanently  in  a  locality  which  he  fits. 

Since  the  agricultural  instructor  will  in  no  way  be  hampered  by  his 
principalship,  but  may  be  immeasurably  helped  by  the  general  attitude 
of  the  high  school  as  a  whole  toward  the  work  of  his  vocational  de- 
partment, and  since  his  chemistry,  physics,  botany,  and  biology  will 
be  correlated  with  the  environment  of  the  school  and,  therefore,  will 
be  primarily  agricultural,  these  new  rulings  are,  of  course,  entirely 
in  keeping  with  the  spirit  and  with  the  methods  of  the  home-project 
plan  set  forth  in  this  book.  They  are,  also,  in  keeping  with  similar 
rulings  in  other  states. 

The  delays  in  printing,  moreover,  make  it  possible  to  refer  here  to 
an  important  recent  discussion  of  the  place  of  the  project  in  education, 
namely,  the  article  on  "The  Project  in  Science  Teaching,"  by  Dr. 
John  Alford  Stevenson,  of  the  University  of  Illinois,  College  of  Edu- 
cation, in  the  January,  1919,  number  of  School  Science  atid  Mathe- 
matics. He  defines  a  project  as  "A  problematic  act  carried  to  com- 
pletion in  its  natural  setting."  His  discussion  is  closely  reasoned 
and  clearly  illustrated.  Dr.  Stevenson  finds  that  there  is  need  for 
the  project  in  education,  both  as  a  concept  and  as  a  term.  He  is 
sensible  of  possible  shortcomings  in  a  project  method  ineffectively 
applied,  but  states  in  his  final  paragraph  the  following  conclusion : 
"The  project  method  rightly  carried  on  develops  great  interest,  gives 
training  in  carrying  acts  to  completion,  and  provides  adequate  op- 
portunity for  directing  thinking  and  reasoning." 

Professor  Hanus  has  visited  pupils  and  projects.  His  words,  like 
those  of  Dr.  Abbott,  are  the  words  of  an  eye-witness. 

Upon  the  first  decade  of  development  of  the  home-project  plan,  the 
author  feels  that  the  chapter  by  Dr.  Abbott  is  a  sort  of  benediction. 

Rurus  W.  Stimson. 

February  20,  igig. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction  by  Paul  H.  Hanus xxxvii 

CHAPTER  I 

\'ocATioNAL  Agricultural  Education i 

CHAPTER  II 

Home-Project   School    or   Department   versus    Self-contained 

School 32 

CHAPTER   III 
Project  Stlt)y  versus  Subject  Study 59 

CHAPTER   IV 

Vegetable  Growing  Project  Study.    Illustrative  Outlines    .      99 

CHAPTER   V 
Example  of  a  State  Agricultural  Project  Study  Bibliography    135 

CHAPTER   VI 

County  Schools  and  High  School  Departments  in  Massachu- 
setts No-Dormitory  System  Compared  as  to  Requirements 
and  Advantages 17S 

CHAPTER   VII 

Suggestions  to  Supervisors,  Superintent)ents,  and  Directors      302 

CHAPTER   VIII 
Suggestions  to  Vocational  Agricultural  Instructors       .        .    399 

CHAPTER  IX 

The   New   Education  —  Making    Farmers,   by   Lyman   Abbott    451 

[For  detailed  outlines  of  chapters,  see  the  following  ptiges.] 

xiii 


CONTENTS 

MORE  DETAILED 

CHAPTER    I 
VOCATIONAL   AGRICXJLTURAL   EDUCATION 

PAGE 

1.  Education i 

(i)  Modern  versus  Medieval if 

(2)  "What  Knowledge  Is  of  Most  Worth?" 3 

(3)  "Liberal  and  Practical" 4 

(4)  Practical  and  Liberal S 

(5)  Not  a  Matter  of  Moment 5 

2.  Vocational  Education 6 

(i)     For  Those  Over  Fourteen 6 

(2)  Of  Less  Than  College  Grade 6 

(3)  Vocational  versus  Cultural      ..........         7 

A .  Limited  Appeal  of  Cultural  Education  .....         8 

B.  Schools  of  Privilege    ...........         9 

C.  Schools  of  Protest       ...........         9 

•  D.  An  Army  out  of  School 10 

E.  A  Problem  of  Conservation  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .10 

F.  Individual  versus  Mass        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         -14 

(4)  Education  by  .\ction  and  Affairs   .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .16 

3.  Vocational  Agricultural  Education 19 

(i)     Definition  and  Development  .........       19 

A.  Agricultural  Schools  at  Colleges  of  Agriculture 21 

B.  Separate  Agricultural  Schools  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .22 

C.  Agricultural  Departments  in  High  Schools       ......       24 

(2)     A  Square  Deal  in  Vocational  Education 29 

A.  General  Schooling  Not  Enough 29 

B.  Books  and  Bulletins  Not  Enough 29 

C.  The  Farm  Not  Enough 30 

D.  Conclusion       , 31 

CHAPTER    II 

HOME-PROJECT      SCHOOL    OR    DEPARTMENT    VERSUS    SELF-CONTAINED 

SCHOOL 

1.  Spectator  versus  Participant 32 

2.  The  Fundamental  Problem 35 

XV 


XVI 


CONTENTS 


3.  Productive  F.^rming  as  Educational  Projects 

(i)  First  Use  of  Term  "Project"  for  Unit  of  Vocational  Instruction 
(2)     "  Project "  Defined  and  Described     ..... 

A .  A  Fanning  Project,  A  Thing  to  be  Done 

B.  A  Fanning  Project,  Something  to  be  Done  on  a  Farm 

C.  A  Farming  Project  Involves  an  Educational  Process 

D.  Three  Elements  of  a  Project 

E.  Project  Fields  or  Classes 
(3)     Educational  Analysis  of  a  Project 

A.  .\bundant  Crop 

B.  Clean  Crop 

C.  Sound  Crop 

D.  Sub-projects     . 

4.  Projects  of  Pupils  A^fD  Other  Farm  Work 

5.  Parents  Like  Home  Projects  . 

6.  Young  People  Respond 

7.  Counting  the  Cost  of  Farming 

8.  Earning  and  Learning 

9.  Conclusion  .... 


PAGE 
38 

39 
40 
40 
41 

d2 

43 

44 
44 
45 
48 

49 
49 

50 

53 

54 

55 

S6 

57 


CHAPTER    III 
PROJECT  STUDY  VERSUS  SUBJECT  STUDY 

1.  Project  Wors  and  Project  Stl-dy 59 

2.  Project  Study  Suitable  for  Vocational  Agricltltural  Schools  ...  59 

(i)     Range  and  Progress 59 

(2)     Studies  Not  on  Diagram        .         .         .         ...         .         .         •         -         .60 

3.  Project  Stldy  Suttable  for  Vocational  Agricultur.al  Departments  in 

Selected  High  Schools .60 

(i)     Necessary-  Groupings 60 

(2)     Agriculture  First 62 

4.  Project  Stutjy  Concentration.    Year  Limits 62 

(i)     Pupil 62 

(2)  Instructor      ..........•••  63 

(3)  Published  Year  Groups 63 

5.  Project  Stltjy  ant)  Capacity  of  Pupils 63 

(i)     Individual  versus  Class 63 

(2)     Varying  Capacity 64 

6.  Kinds  of  Project  Knowledge  .         .         .        - 64 

(i)     Rules    • -4 

(2)     Reasoning 65 


CONTENTS  xvii 

PAGE 

(3)  Broader  Results 65 

(4)  Typical  for  .\11  Projects 66 

(5)  The  Three  R's  of  the  Project  Method .66 

7.  Project  Stlt)y  Program  and  Records 68 

(i)     Of  Highest  Importance 68 

(2)     A  Supposed  Project      ...........       68 

8.  Apportionment  of  Project  Stl-dy  Time  and  Materials        .        ...        .      6g 

(i)  Diagram  Column  Widths     ..........  6g 

(2)  Faculty  Cooperation .70 

(3)  No  Pupil- 'Held  Back" 71 

(4)  First  Column,  First  in  Fact 71 

(s)  High  School  Half -days,  Spring  and  Fall 71 

(6)  More  Mature  and  Less  Mature  Minded       . 71 

(7)  Project  Study  versus  .Agricultural  Survey     . 72 

(8)  Class  Focus    .............  72 

(9)  Individual  Focus    ............  72 

(10)  Prime  Merit  of  this  Apportionment 74 

9.  Vegetable  Growing  Project  Stitjy 76 

10.  Small  Frlit  Growing  Project  Study'      . 78 

11.  Beekeeping  Project  Study        .        .        .       •.        .        .        .        .        .        .79 

12.  Poultry  Keeping  Project  Study      .        .  • 80 

13.  Sheep  and  Goat  Husbandry  Project  Study 82 

14.  Swine  Husbandry  Project  Study .82 

15.  Ornamental  Planting  Project  Sti-dy 83 

16.  Third-year  and  Fourth-year  Project  Study  —  Orcharding,  Market  Gar- 

dening, Dairying,  Farm  Management 83 

17.  Project  Study  Perspective 84 

(i)     "Improvement"  and  "Trial"  Projects  Desirable 85 

(2)     "Productive"  Projects  Fundamental 86 

18.  Project  Study  versus  Subject  Study 88 

(i)  Subject  Study 88 

.4.  Organized  Knowledge      ..........  88 

B.  Deferred  Values       ...........  89 

C.  .\griculture  and  Subject  Study 89 

D.  The  Unaided  Farm  Boy  .........  90 

E.  Education  in  Forgetting  .........  90 

F.  Subject-study  Merits       .         .         .  .         .  .         .92 

(2)     Project  Study         ............  92 

.1.    .Accompanied  by  Subject  Study       ........       92 

B.    Organization  of  Common  Sense       ........       93 


XVlll 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   IV 


ILLUSTRATIVE  PROJECT  STUDY  OUTLINES  APPLIED  TO  VEGETABLE 

GROWING 

PAGE 

1.  Project  Study  Outline  Making  in  Massachusetts       .        .        .        .        .  gg 

2.  Vegetable  Growing  Project  Study  Outlines 102 

(i)     Project  Study  and  Vegetable  Groups 102 

.1.    Possible  Classifications 102 

B.  Possible  Varieties     ...........  104 

C.  Classification  by  Methods  of  Cultivation 105 

D.  \'arieties  of  Vegetables  per  Pupil 106 

Project  Study  by  Vegetable  Groups log 

A .  A  Practical  Approach       ..........  log 

B.  Aid  to  Garden  Planning           .........  log 

C.  Good  but  Inadequate 113 

Project  Study  by  Vegetable  Varieties    .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .114 

Suggestive  Project  Study  Outline  —  Kitchen  Gardening        .         .         .         .  iig 

Suggestive  Project  Study  Outline  — ■  Lettuce  Grow-ing            ....  126 


(2) 


(3) 
(4) 

is) 


CHAPTER   V 

EXAMPLE    OF    A    STATE    AGRICULTURAL    PROJECT    STUDY 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 


1.  Approved  Agricultur.\l  Papers  and  Periodicals 

(i)  Nru!  England  Homestead 

(2)  Rural  New  Yorker 

(3)  Breeder's  Gazette   . 

(4)  Hoard's  Dairyman 

(5)  Market  Growers'  Journal 

(6)  Garden  Magazine    . 

(7)  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture 

(8)  Warehatn  Courier  . 

(9)  Better  Fruit  . 
(10)  Park  and  Cemetery,  and  Landscape  Gardening 

2.  Free  Bulletins,  Circulars,  and  Reports 
(i)     The  Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Education 

(2)  The  United  States  Bureau  of  Education 

(3)  The  United  States  Department  of  .\griculture 

A.  Farmers'  Bulletins 

B.  Department  Bulletins       .... 

C.  Journal  of  Agricultural  Research 

D.  Other  Publications  .... 

(4)  The  .Agricultural  Experiment  Stations 

(5)  The  Extension  Service  of  the  Massachusetts  .Agricultural  College 


137 
138 
138 
138 
138 
138 
138 
138 
138 
138 
138 

140 

140 
140 
140 
141 
141 
141 
141 
143 
147 


CONTENTS  XIX 

PAGE 

(6)  The  Massachusetts  Board  of  Agriculture       .         .         .         .         .         .         -151 

(7)  The  State  Forester 151 

3.  Text,  Exercise  and  Reference  Books,  Bui-letins,  Circulars,  and  Reports  153 
(i)     Instructor's  Aid  Necessarj-     ..........  153 

(2)  Lists  Subject  to  Revision 154 

(3)  Prices  and  Estimates 154 

(4)  Student  Purchases 155 

(s)     Reference  Numbers  for  Books 155 

A.  Library  .\rrangement 155 

B.  Project  Outlines 156 

C.  Library  Card  Indexes      .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         -  156 

D.  Future  Entries 157 

(6)  Reference  Numbers  for  Publishers 157 

(7)  State  Help  and  Approval i57 

4.  Agrici,t.tur.\l  Project  Study  Bibliography  Arranged  for  Ready  Reference  158 
(i)     Textbooks  Approved  for  First  and  Second  Year  Agricultural  Sur\'ey     .         .  158 

(2)  Textbooks  Approved  for  Third  and  Fourth  Year  Agricultural  Survey    .         .158 

(3)  For  First  and  Second  Year  Study  of  Projects  in : 

A.  Vegetable  Growing 159 

B.  Small  Fruit  Growing 159 

C.  Beekeeping      . 160 

D.  Poultry  Keeping 160 

E.  Sheep  Husbandry    .         . 161 

F.  Swine  Husbandry 161 

G.  Ornamental  Planting                 .         .         . 161 

(4)  For  Third  and  Fourth  Year  Study  of  Projects  in  : 

.1 .    Animal  Husbandry 162 

B.  Fruit  Growing          .         . 163 

C.  Market  Gardening 163 

(5)  For  Laboratory  Exercises  and  Scientific  Data  Bearing  upon  the  Productive 

Projects  Undertaken 164 

A.  Agriculture  in  General     .         .         .         .         .         •  •         •         .164 

B.  Animal  Diseases       ...........  165 

C.  Animal  Foods  and  Feeding 165 

D.  Animal  Life,  Propagation  and  Tests        .......  165 

E.  Bacteriologj',  Agricultural        .........  166 

F.  Birds  and  Agriculture      .         . 166 

G.  Botany  and  Plant  Physiology 166 

H.    Chemistry  and  Agriculture 167 

/.     Construction  and  Repairs :  Plans,  Materials,  Tests,  etc.  .         .         .167 

/.    Dairy  Products,  Manufactures,  Chemistr>-,  and  Bacteriologj-          .  168 

K.   Farm  Management  and  Rural  Economics 168 

L.    Fruits      .         .        ■ 169 

M.  Insects 169 

N.   Lime  and  Liming     ...........  169 

0.    Physics  of  Agriculture      .         .         . 170 


XX 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

P.    Plant  Diseases 170 

Q.  Plant  Foods  and  Feeding         .         .         .                  .         .         .         .         .170 

R.  Plant  Life,  Propagation  and  Tests  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .171 

S.    Soils,  Geology,  Physical  Geography,  Soil  Fertility 171 

T.  Spraying  and  Fumigation         ..........     172 

U.  Text-books  and  Manuals  for  Schools       .         .         .         .         .         .         .172 

V .  Trees  and  Shrubs,  Not  for  Fruit      .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .173 

W.  Weeds  and  Their  Eradication 174 

A'.  Zoolog>',  General  and  Economic       ........     174 

(6)     For  Betterment  of  Country  Life  and  Education 174 

Publishers  and  Their  Addresses 176 


CHAPTER    VI 

COUNTY  SCHOOLS  AND    HIGH    SCHOOL    DEPARTMENTS   IN   THE 

MASSACHUSETTS  NO -DORMITORY  SYSTEM  COMPARED  AS 

TO  CERTAIN  REQUIREMENTS    AND    ADVANTAGES 


1.  Authorization 

(i)     Chapter  471  of  the  Acts  of  iQ 1 1     . 

(2)     But  This  Act  Is  Not  Sufficient  Authorization 

PAGE 

A.  County  School  .        .     180   |  B 

2.  Control     .... 
(i)  County  School 

A .  Board  of  Trustees    . 

B.  Director      Is      Executive 

Officer 

C.  Records    . 


3.  Organization 

(i)     Cooperation  with  Educators 

(2)  Cooperation  with  Farmers 

(3)  The  Plan  of  Organization 

(4)  County  School 

A.  Director    . 

B.  Staff  of  Specialists 


181 
181 


ISI 

181 


186 
186 
188 

i8g 


180 
180 
180 


High  School  Department       180 


(2)  High  School  Department 

A .  School  Committees   . 

B.  Superintendent  Is  Execu 
tive  Officer 

C.  Records 


C.  Advisory  Committee 

D.  Branches  of  County  Schools 

E.  Farm  Bureau  Department     igi 

G.  Program  :  Time  Allotment  for  Day  Pupils 

H .  Size  of  Classes  ..... 

/.  Persistency  of  Attendance 


(5)  High  School  Departments 

A .  Superintendent  of  Schools 

B.  Agricultural  Instructor  or 

Instructors 

C.  Advisory  Committee 


F.   Farm  Bureau  Cooperation 


181 
181 
181 

181 
181 

182 
182 
183 
185 

186 
186 

188 
i8q 

igi 

iqi 

IQS 
iQS 
196 


CONTENTS 


XXI 


/.    Special  Efficiency  Corps 

K.   Staff  "Vacation"  and  "Professional  Improvement"  Provisions 


4.  Location 
(I 


PAGE 
196 
197 

199 


County  School 
^.  On  a  Farm 

B.  Accessibility 

C.  Acreageand  Variety  of  Soil 

D.  One-teacher    Branches   in 

High  Schools 


PAGE 

200 
200 
201 
201 

201 


(2)  High  School  Department        .     200 

A.  In  a  High  School  Building     200 

B.  Accessibility     .        .        .     201 


5- 

Equipment 

. 

202 

(i)  County  School 

202 

(2)  High  School  Department 

. 

202 

A.  The  Farm 

202 

A .  No  Farm 

202 

B.  Classrooms      and 

Their 

B.  Classroom  and  Its  Equip- 

Equipment 

206 

ment 

206 

C.   Examples 

208 

C.   Examples 

208 

6. 

Courses  of  Study 

2X6 

(i)  County  School 

219 

(2)  High  School  Department 

219 

A.  Agricultural 

219 

A.  Agricultural 

219 

B.  Non-agricultural. 

Re- 

B.  Non-agricultural. 

Op- 

quired  of  All-day 

Pupils 

258 

tional,  But  Advised 

258 

Qualification  of  Teachers 266 

(i)     Fitness  for  Particular  Position       .         .    •     . 268 

(2)  Not  Passed  upon  Once  for  All        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         •         .  269 

(3)  Qualifications  for  Improvement 269 

A.  For  Improvement  in  Farming  ........  269 

B.  For  Improvement  in  Teaching 270 

(4)  Agricultural  College  Training         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .       ■  .  271 

(5)  Lifelong  Farm  Experience 271 

(6)  Certain  Differences 271 


A.  County  School 


272 


B.  High  School  Department 


8.  Methods  of  Instruction 276 

(i)     Home-project  Visitation         .......-••  276 

(2)  Lantern  Slides  and  Charts     ........•■  277 

(3)  The  Following  Differences -77 

A .  County  School 

(A )  Correlation  Controlled 

(B)  Group     Instruction     and 

Individual 

(C)  Scientific  and  Practical    . 
{D)  School  and  Home  Farm  . 


277 

B.  High  School  Department 

277 

277 

(.4)  Correlation  Voluntary  and 

\'ariable 

277 

277 

(B)  Individual        Instruction 

and  C.rt)up    . 

-'77 

278 

(C)   Practical    and    Scientitic 

278 

279 

{D)  Home  Farm  and  Depart- 

ment   .... 

279 

lO. 


xxii  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

g.  Conditions  of  Admission ,       .       .       .        .    280 

(i)     Age  Restrictions 280 

A.  Fourteenth  Birthday .280 

B.  Sixteenth  Birthday  in  Some  Cases 280 

C.  Twenty-fifth  Birthday  in  Some  Cases 280 

(2)  Good  Character 280 

(3)  Career  Motive ^^^ 

(4)  Physique 281 

(5)  Facilities  for  Home  Projects  or  Acceptable  Substitutes  .        .        .        .282 

(6)  Non-resident  Pupils 282 

Employment  of  Pupils •        •        -283 

(i)  Approved  Employment 283 

A.  Agricultural  tier^jw  Non-agricultural  Employment 283 

B.  Routine  versus  Educational  Agricultural  Employment     .         .         '.         .     284 

C.  Work  versus  Recreation 285 

D.  Pupils  on  Farms  versus  Other  Farm  Workers 286 

E.  Employment  Adjustments  by  Schools  and  Departments  .         .         .286 

F.  School  Records  of  Employment 294 

(2)  Employment  Honors 296 

A.  Prizes .296 

B.  Certificates 297 

C.  Diplomas .297 

(3)  Agricultural  Employment  Bureau 297 

(4)  Supervision  of  Employment •         •     297 

A .  Local  Triplicate  Memorandum  Blanks 299 

B.  State  Supervision  Blanks 299 

C.  Advisory  Committee  Supervision 299 

D.  Deputy  Commissioner's  Supervision 299 

E.  Commissioner's  Supervision 30o 

'  F.    Board  of  Education's  Supervision 300 

(5)  Blanks,  Files,  and  Photographic  Supplies 300 

(6)  Employment  Reports 30o 

.  Conclusion ^°° 


CHAPTER    VII 

SUGGESTIONS    TO    SUPERVISORS,    SUPERINTENDENTS,    AND    DIRECTORS, 
SUPPORTED    BY    EXPERIENCE   IN    MASSACHUSETTS 

I.  Know  the  Agricultural  Resources  and  Possibilities  of  the  Locality  You 

Serve ^02 

(i)     Incentives  to  Farming  in  Massachusetts 303 

A .  The  Stresses  and  Uncertainties  of  Other  Callings 303 

B.  Family  Attractions  and  Associations 303 

C.  Natural  Charm  of  the  Country 304 

D.  Life  Pursuit  to  be  Found  in  Farming 30S 


CONTENTS 


XXIU 


(2) 


(3) 
(4) 


Farming  Prospects  Were  Good,  and  Improving     .... 
A.    Agricultural  Census  ........ 

Massachusetts  Farmers  Said  Farming  Prospects  Were  Promising 

Few  Abandoned  Farms    ....... 

Improved  Tillage     ........ 

Increase  of  Investments  ....... 

Little  Farms  Yielded  Large  Returns        .... 

Productivity  Compares  Favorably  with  That  of  Big  Farming 

Conclusions 

Present  Status        . 


B. 
C. 
D. 
E. 
F. 
G. 


2. 


Fit  Agricultural  Instruction  to  Local  Needs     . 
(i)     Needs  of  Sons  of  Well-to-do  Farmers     ..... 
Needs  of  Sons  of  Parents  without  Land  or  Live-stock    . 

A .  Training  for  Wage-earning       ...... 

B.  Training  for  Independent  Farming  .... 
Needs  of  Sons  of  Farmers  of  Modest  Means 
Needs  of  Those  over  Sixteen  Who  Desire  Evening  or  Other  Short 
Needs  of  Families  for  Itinerant  Teaching       .... 

A .  Example  of  a  Survey  of  Such  Needs        .         .      " . 

B.  Referendum  Vote  by  Cities     ...... 

C.  War  Conditions  versus  Conditions  of  Peace 

D.  The  Future      . 


(2) 


(3) 
(4) 
(S) 


3.  Organize  Farming  on  School  Land  as  Projects    . 

(i)     This  Means  Departmental  Organization  and  Responsibility 

(2)  This  Means,  also,  Individual  Responsibility  . 

(3)  This  Means  Cost  Accounting  Every  School  Project 

(4)  This  Means  a  Written  Report  on  Every  School  Project 


States 


Courses 


PACE 

306 
306 
307 
308 
3og 
310 
311 
313 
314 
314 

31S 
31S 
317 
317 
317 
321 
322 
322 
323 
335 
335 

338 
338 
339 
340 
340 


4.  Assign  Half  of  Each  Day  at  School,  in  Consecutive  Periods,  to  Each 

Project  Study  Group 341 


S.  Provide  for  "Professional  Improvement"  Work  Every  Year  for  Every 

Man 

Improvement  Is  Possible  for  the  Best  of  Farmers  and  for  the  Best  of  Teachers 

Farm-shop  Work  Good  Winter  Stop-gap 

Short  Courses  at  State  .Agricultural  College  Good  Winter  Stop-gaps 

Project  Plan  of  Teacher-training 

Promotes  Permanent  Tenure  and  Increasing  Efficiency 
Require  Annual  Reports  on  "Professional  Improvement"     . 


(i) 
(2) 
(3) 
(4) 
(5) 
(6) 


6.  Require  Teaching  by  Projects,  Not  by  Subjects 

(i)     Require  Preliminar>'  Project  Surveys  and  .Agreements  . 

(2)  Require  Systematic  Project  Inspection  and  Suix^rvision  Records 

(3)  Require  Project  Study  Outline  Making  or  Adaptation  . 

(4)  Require  Seasonal  Planning  of  Related  Study  and  Practice     . 


342 
342 
343 
343 
344 
345 
346 

353 
353 
353 
355 
355 


XXIV 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

7.  Provide  for  Team  Work 357 

(i)     Cooperate  with  Educators 3SQ 

.4 .    With  the  State  Agricultural  College 359 

B.  With  Other  Agencies  for  Agricultural  Education 361 

C.  With  County  Farm  Bureaus 362 

D.  Hold  "  Conferences  on  Wheels " 364 

(2)  Cooperate  with  Farmers .         .  367 

A.  Broadsides  of  Criticism 367 

B.  A  Fair  Answer         ...........  36g 

C.  The  Long-distance  Educator   .........  369 

D.  The  Middle-distance  Educator 370 

E.  The  Short-distance  Educator 371 

F.  Give  Farmers  a  Place  of  Honor  and  Influence 372 

a.  Invite  Farmers  to  Cooperate  as  Advisers 372 

b.  Invite  Fanners  to  Cooperate  in  Instruction 373 

c.  Invite  Farmers  to  Examine  Pupils 374 

d.  Avoid  Dormitories  as  a  Hindrance  to  Cooperation  with  Farmers        .  375 

e.  Make  School  Land  and  Live-stock  Help  and  Not  Hinder  Cooperation 

with  Farmers 376 

(3)  Model  Types  of  Organization  for  Team  Work 378 

A.  Vocational  Agricultural  Education  and  Farm  Bureau  Work  United  in  a 

County  Agricultural  School 378 

B.  A  Service  System,  without  Publicly  Owned  Land  or  Live-stock    .         .  381 

(4)  Fight  for  Service,  Not  for  Leadership 384 


CHAPTER    VIII 
SUGGESTIONS   TO    VOCATIONAL    AGRICULTURAL   INSTRUCTORS 


1.  Make  Educational  Surve-ys 

2.  Make  Surveys  of  Farming 

3.  Require  Preliminary  Project  Agreements 
(i)     Suit  Project  Agreements  to  Conditions 

A.    Projects  Should  Not  be  Too  Small 

a.  The  Big  Project  Is  a  Better  Test  of  a  Given  Method 

b.  The  Big  Project  Yields  the  Larger  Return 

c.  The  Big  Project  Bulks  Larger  on  the  Home  Farm 

d.  The  Big  Project  Bulks  Larger  in  the  Community 

e.  The  Bigger  the  Project  the  Better 

(2)  Project  Work  Should  be  Done  in  Working  Clothes 

(3)  Untoward  Conditions  Should  be  Accepted  as  a  Challenge 

(4)  Ample  School  Credit  for  Project  Work  Should  be  Provided  for  in  the  Pre- 

liminary Agreements 

4.  Require   Preliminary   Agreements  Covering   All  Approved  Substitutes 

for  Projects 


399 

399 

400 
402 
406 
406 
406 
407 
407 
407 
407 
407 

409 
409 


CONTENTS  XXV 

PAGE 

5.  Make  Project  Study  Outlines 411 

(i)     Ask  Questions      .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .411 

(2)  Cover  the  Needs  of  Every  Bo\-    .         .         .         .         ,         .         .         .         .411 

(3)  Include  Short  Units  of  Related  Study 411 

(4)  Make  Outline  Overlap  Outline     .........     413 

(s)     Make  OutUne  Overlap  Textbook  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .     413 

(6)     Refer  to  Illustrated  Matter 413 

(.7)     Prepare  Outlines  Ahead        ..........     413 

(8)  Cooperate  in  Outline  Making       . 414 

(9)  Mark  Outlines  for  Each  Pupil      .         . 416 

(10)     Disregard  the  Printed  Sequence  . .416 

(it)     Improve  Your  Outlines 416 

(12)  Carefully  Select  Reference  Materials    . .-416 

(13)  Keep  the  School  Reference  File  Intact  .......     41O 

6.  Make  Outlined  Study  Lead  to  Unoutlined 417 

7.  Require  Talking "  .        .     418 

8.  Keep  Project  Records       .         .         .         .         .        .        .        .        .        .        .418 

(i)     Require  Careful  Planning  and  Note-taking 41Q 

(2)  Require  Accurate  Accounting         .........     420 

(3)  Make  Photographic  Records 423 

(4)  Make  Farm  Practice  Records         .........     424 

(s)     Make  Supervision  and  Instruction  Records 426 

(6)     Require  Reports  in  Writing   ..........     427 

A.  For  the  Project  Instructor 427 

B.  For  Possible  Publication 43° 

C.  For  Double  Credit 432 

D.  For  the  "Educational  Manager" 434 

E.  For  the  State  Supervisor 439 

9.  Keep  in  Touch  with  Graduates 440 

10.  Help  Educate  Gentlemen  of  the  Old  School  and  Farmers  of  the  New     446 

CHAPTER    IX 
THE    NEW    EDUCATION  —  MAKING    FARMERS 
By  Lyman  Abbott 45 1 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


Foil    Essentials  of  the  Home  Project  Plan 


Frontispiece 


1.    MOTIVES  AND    GROWTH 

FIGURE  PAGE 

1  Symbol  for  Earlier  Secondary  Education 7 

2  Symbol  for  Earlier  Vocational  Education 8 

3  Symbol  for  Modern  High  School  Education 9 

4  Symbol  for  Modern  Vocational  Education lo 

5  Symbols  for  Modern  High  and  Vocational  Schools lo 

6  Young  America's  Opportunity ii 

.     7     The  Money  Value  of  Education 13 

8    The  Money  Value  of  Education  in  Farming 14 

g     A  "Real  Job" .         .  15 

10  Growth  in  Numbers  of  Vocational  Pupils 17 

1 1  Variation  in  Enrollment  by  Types  of  Schools    .......  18 

12  Percentage  of  Attendance "              "           " 20 

13  Percentage  of  Withdrawals  from      "           ".......  21 

14  Percentage  of  Withdrawals  Placed  in  Industry  for  which  They  had  Received 

Some  Training 22 


IS 
16 

17 
18 

19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 

25 

26 

27 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32 
33 
34 
35 
36 
37 


2.   PLANT   AND    EQUIPMENT 

Some  Schools  Have  Land  and  Live-stock    . 24 

"Related  Study"  Demonstration  and  Recitation  Room      .....  25 

Substantial  Laboratory  Tables 26 

Farm  Bacteriolog>'  Laboratory    .         . -27 

28 

29 

31 

33 

34 


Farm  Chemistry  Laboratory 
Farm  Shop,  Wood  Working 
Farm  Shop,  Iron  Working 
Mixing  and  Using  Concrete 
Farm  Drawing  Room 


Girls  Provide  School  Luncheon    ..........  35 

Home-making  Department  —  One  of  Kitchens •    .  36 

Model  Dining  Room  —  Table  Service 37 

Home  Nursing  Room 39 

Dressmaking  and  Millinery  Room 40 

Assembly  Room  —  Movable  Desks     .         .         . 41 

Assembly  Room  Exhibit  —  Cabinet  and  Candy  Sale            .....  42 

Assembly  Room  E.xhibit  —  Sale  of  Plants  and  Fancy  .\rticles    ....  43 

Assembly  Room  Exhibit  —  Sewing  and  E)ressmaking  Exhibit     ....  45 

Vista,  Essex  County  Agricultural  School 46 

Horse-barn           .............  47 

Horse-bam  Converted  into  School  Building 48 

New  School  Building  in  Process  of  Construction          ......  49 

Steel  Lockers  and  Note-filing  Cases 50 

xxvii 


xxvm 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


FIGURE 

38  Testing  Soils  in  Laboratory 

39  Basement  Lunch  Room 

40  "Project  Study"  Room 

41  Electric  Cars  at  Door 

42  Mpdel  Consolidated  School 

43  Model  Consolidated  School  with  Greenhouse 

44  Ashfield  Room  with  Agricultural  "Atmosphere' 
.  45  A  Literary  Home  Project  Work  Shop  at  North  Easton 

46  A  Two-teacher  Agricultural  Department     . 

.  47  High  School  Department  —  Even  Year  Agriculture 

48  High  School  Department  —  Odd  Year  Agriculture 

49  Project  Study  Room  at  Concord 

50  Books,  Bulletins,  FiUng  Cases,  Card-index 

51  Tag  Device  for  Temporary  Numbering  of  Books 

52  Poultrj'  AppUances      ...... 

53  Non-book  Related  Study  Materials     . 

54  Pruning  Tools,  Sprayers,  etc 

55  Bulletin  Board  and  Telephone     .... 

56  Diagram  of  Project  Study  Di\-isions  —  the  Three  R's 

57  Diagram  of  .\gricultural  Periods  for  Yoimger  Group 

58  .  Diagram  of  Agricultural  Periods  for  Older  Group 

59  Diagram  of  Agricultural  Half  Day 


3.    FIRST-YEAR   PLANT   PROJECTS  —  ELEMENTARY 

60  First-year  Plant  Projects  —  Elementary 

61  Clean  Cultivation,  Dust  Mulch  .... 

62  Root  Study  —  Turnip 

63  Fertilizer  Identification  and  Tests       .... 

64  Scoring  Potatoes  ....... 

6s  New  Kind  of  Examination  —  Naming  Vegetable  Seeds 

66  Asparagus  Growing  —  School  Project 

67  Instructors  Teach  Handiest  Ways  and  Set  the  Pace    . 

68  Making  their  First  Hot-bed  at  the  School  . 

69  Making  Hot-bed  for  Advisory  Committee  Member     . 

70  "  Pricking  Out "  Lettuce 

71  Sowing  with  Seed  Sower      ...... 

72  Studying  Seed  Sower  Mechanism         .... 

73  Stud>'ing  Capillar^'  Movement  of  Water 

74  A  City  Boy's  Project  at  Bristol  County  Agricultural  School 

75  Potatoes  in  Bloom  —  City  Boy's  Project    . 

76  Both  Hand  and  Horse  Work  Taught  City  Boys 

77  City  Boy's  Well-rounded  Training — .Apple  Packing  . 

78  City  Boy  Helping  Set  Up  Corn  Harvester  . 
70  Project  \'icissitudes  —  Frosted  Melons 

80  Projects  Suited  to  Strength 

81  Village  Boy's  Back  Yard  before  Studying  .\griculture 

82  Village  Boy's  Back  Yard  while  Studjang  Agriculture  . 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS  XXIX 

FIGURE  PAGE 

83  Improvement  Project           .         .         . 107 

84  Improvement  Project  Followed  by  Productive  Project 107 

85  Improvement  Project  —  Market  Gardening 108 

86  The  Boy  and  His  Brother  Hired  to  Help     .         .         .         .     •   .         .         .         .  log 

87  Farm  Boy's  Acre         .         .         .         . no 

88  Part  of  Farm  Boy's  Squash  Crop         .         . in 

89  Forty  Acres  in  Sweet  Corn  —  Boys  from  Big  Farms 112 

90  Small  Fruit  Project  —  Selecting  Strawberry  Plants 113 

91  Real  Estate  Dealer  Awake  to  Advantage  of  Agricultural  Department  in  Local 

High  School 114 

92  Bit  of  Landscape  Forestry  .         .         . .115 

93  School  Flower  Garden  Aid  to  Home  Flower  Garden 116 

94  Potting  Plants  for  AH  Schoolrooms      . 117 

95  Lessons  in  Lawn  Making     ...........  135 

96  Future  Needs  .\nticipated  —  Bird's-eye  View  Plan 136 

97  Pupils  Planting  Shrubs  According  to  Plan 137 

98  "Between  the  Acts"  —  Cutting  a  Melon 139 

4.    SECOND-YEAR   SMALL   ANIMAL   PROJECTS  — ELEMENTARY 

99  Second -year  Small  Animal  Projects     .         .         . 139 

ICX5  Sheep,  a  Home  Project 140 

loi  Chester  Whites,  —  Clearing  Rough  Land  on  Home  Farm 141 

102  Shoats  in  the  Orchard  —  Home  Project       . 142 

103  Brood  Sow  on  Good  Pasture  —  School  Project 145 

104  A  Vigorous  Litter  —  Essex  County  School           .......  146 

105  Farm  Biology  —  Post  Mortem  of  Pig's  Brain 147 

106  Studying  Beekeeping  —  School  Project 148 

107  Home  Project  in  Beekeeping 149 

108  Trees  in  Poultry  Yard         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  150 

109  A  Pupil's  Hatch  at  School 151 

no  Colony  House  for  Young  Birds   .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         -152 

111  Brooding  Coops  in  Home  Orchard       .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .153 

112  Egg-laying  Club  Project  of  Vocational  Pupil 154 

113  No  Two  Home  Projects  Alike 156 

114  "For  Sale"  Bulletin  at  School     ..........  157 

115  Stud>'ing  .\rtificial  Brooding 178 

116  Building  Coal  Stove  Brooder  House             . 179 

117  Building  Poultry  Houses  in  School  Arena    . 182 

118  Building  "Trial"  Project  Poultry  House  at  Home 183 

119  Village  Boy's  Back  Yard  Poultry  Project 1S4 

120  Village  Boy's  .\pproved  Substitute  for  Second-year  Crop  Project        .         .         .185 

121  Mangels  for  Poultry  —  Home  Project 186 

122  Supplementary  Farm  Work  for  Wages        .         .        '.         .         .         .         .         .187 

123  CapKinizing  —  Boy  Operating      .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  '      .  18S 

124  A  Workmanlike  Job  —  Big  Poultry  House  Built  by  Boy  on  Home  Farm               .  1 89 

125  Essex  County  Egg-laying  Contest        .........  191 

126  Poultry  Projects  Mean  Business  —  Sometimes  Pretty  Big  Business    .  192 


XXX 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


6.    THIRD-YEAR   PLANT    PROJECTS  —  ADVANCED 

FIGURE 

127  Third-year  Plant  Projects  —  Advanced 

128  Home  Project  on  Big  Market  Garden  Farm 
I2g  School  Cabbage  Project  —  Boys  Grew  Crop 

130  Tobacco  Farm  of  Pupil's  Father 

131  Everybody  Works,  even  Father  . 

132  Lathing  Tobacco  ..... 

133  Passing  the  Lathes  Laden  with  Tobacco  Plants 

134  The  Load  on  the  Way  to  the  Tobacco  Bam 
13s  "Trial  Project  "  —  Testing  Early  Tomatoes  at  School 

136  Plant  Pests.     Advisorj-  Committee  Member  Showing  a  Class  his 

on  Wheels ■      . 

137  City  Boy's  Potato  Project  at  Home    . 

138  City  Boy's  Potato  Sorter    .... 

139  Farm  Boys  —  Partnership  Market  Garden  Project  at  Home 

140  .\n  Empty  Wagon  but  a  Full  Pocket  .         .         , 

141  Bank  Books  of  the  Partners         .... 

142  Citj-  Boys  —  Partnership  Project  on  Hired  Land 

143  Partners  Visited  by  Classmates  .... 

144  Earnings  Report  of  the  Partners  ... 

145  Partners,  "Hired  Men"  and  Instructor 

146  Substitute  for  Market  Garden  Project  —  Xotes  in  Record  Book 

147  Constant  Exploration  of  Books  and  Bulletins 

148  Water  Percolation  Tests  —  Related  Study  . 

149  Certain  Schools  May  Specialize  —  .\pple  Harvest 

150  Low-down,  Short-turn  Orchard  Wagon 

151  Apple  Tree  Nursery  and  Cover  Crop  . 

152  Good  "Air  Drainage''  and  Orchard  Cover  Crop 

153  Dwarf  Wagener,  Six  Years  Old   .... 

154  Ontario,  Eight  Years  Old    ..... 

155  Spray  on  Foliage,  Young  R.  I.  Greening 

156  Dwarf  Mcintosh,  Seven  Years  Old 

157  First  Prize  Box  —  Won  S75  in  Prizes  . 

158  Village  Boy's  Orchara  Project  —  Two  Years'  Lease 

159  Mounts  —  Good  and  Bad  Cuts  in  Pruning 

160  Varieties  of  Apples  —  Laboratory  Study     . 

161  Cambium  Layer  —  Apple  Tree  Propagation 

162  Top-working  —  Grafting  High  Quality  Strains   . 

163  Buckwheat  —  Renovation  of  Land  for  Orcharding 

164  Keeping  the  Land  Busy  —  Rape  and  Crimson  Clover 

165  Looking  for  Nodules  on  Clover  Roots  . 

166  "Coming  through  the  Rye  and  Vetch" 

167  Another  Type  of  Soil  Improver  .... 

168  Setting  Out  an  Apple  Orchard  —  School  Project 

169  Setting  Out  a  Peach  Orchard  —  School  Project  . 
•170  Home  Project  —  Starting  .\pple  Orchard    . 

171  One  of  the  Trees  the  Second  Summer 


PAGE 

194 

195 
196 
197 

198 
199 

200 

202 
203 


Potato  Sprayer 

204-205 
207 
208 
209 
210 
211 
212 

213 
214 

21S 
217 
218 
2ig 
221 
222 
223 
224 
225 
226 
228 
229 
230 
231 
232 
233 
234 
235 
236 

237 
240 
241 

243 
244 

245 
246 
247 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


XXXI 


FIGURE 

172  Learning  to  Spray  by  Spraying  —  School  Project 

1 73  Pounds  of  Prevention  —  Tent  Caterpillar  Nest  Collecting  Contest 

174  Spraying  to  Prevent  Brown  Rot  of  Peaches  —  School  Project 
17s  Boy  Cultivating  Peach  Orchard  —  School  Project 

176  Careful  Picking  and  Handling  Taught 

177  Both  Box  and  Barrel  Packing  Taught 

178  Picking  Apples  at  Home      .... 

179  His  Own  Apples  ..... 

180  Orcharding  Section  of  Farm  Practice  Sheet 

181  Ipswich  River  from  Turner  Hill  Orchard     . 

182  Arbor  Day  —  Planting  Forest  Trees   . 


PAGE 

248 
249 

251 
251 

253 
254 
255 
256 
257 
258 
260 


6.   FOURTH-YEAR   ANIMAL   PROJECTS  —  ADVANCED 

183  Diagram  of  Gradation  of  Projects  in  Full  Four  Years  Course 

184  Father  Backs  the  Agricultural  Department 

185  Boys  Who  Cannot  Attend  Full  Time  Not  Neglected  . 

186  Studying  Fine  Holsteins  at  Neighbor's  Farm 

187  Advisorj^  Committee  Member  Coaching  Stock  Judging  Team 

188  Diagram  of  County  Agricultural  School  Education 

189  Diagram  of  High  School  Agricultural  Department  Education 

190  Studying  "Dolly  Dimple,"  "Queen  of  the  Guernsey  Milkers' 

191  Favorite  of  School  Herd  —  Ayrshire   .... 

192  Farm  Bams,  Essex  County  School      .... 

193  Miss  Ruth  Wood  and  Her  Prize  Jersey  Bull 

194  Comparing  Weights  of  Milk  and  Cream 
19s  Babcock  Testing  ....... 

196  Pupils  Explaining  Babcock  Test  to  Visitors 

197  Diagram  of  Minimum  Qualifications  for  Instructorships 

198  Bad  Shoulder  —  Farm  Horse  Study  at  School     . 

199  Good  Shoulder  —  Farm  Horse  Study  at  School  . 

200  Types  for  Mounts  Studied  at  Neighbor's    . 

201  Draft  Type  Studied  at  Neighbor's       .... 

202  School  Colt  and  Boy  Who  Cared  for  Her    . 

203  School  Colt  and  Boy  Who  Trained  Her 

204  Bam  Constmction  Studied  at  School  —  Contract  Job 

205  Shed  for  Wagons  and  Tools  Built  by  Pupils  —  School  Project 

206  Plan  of  Farm  Drawn  by  Pupil  from  Sketch  and  Measurements 

207  Dair>'  and  Cash  Crop  Projects  Combined    . 

208  Mangels  for  Cows  without  Ensilage    . 

209  City  Boy  Mowing  Alfalfa  with  Machine  at  School 

210  Curing  Alfalfa  —  School  Project 

2 1 1  Boy  Raking  Hay  with  Horse       .... 

212  Boys  and  Instructor  Carting  Timothy 

213  Using  Land  for  Blackboard  —  Corn  Planted  Untested 

214  Contrasted  Yields  of  Fodder  —  School  Project    . 

215  Contrasted  Yields  of  Ears  —  School  Project 

216  Germination  Test  —  Strong  and  Weak  Ears  Detected 


261 
262 
262 
263 
263 
264 
26s 
267 
268 
269 
270 
271 
272 
273 
275 
276 

277 
278 
279 
281 
281 
282 
283 
284 
28s 
2S6 
287 
287 
288 
289 
290 
291 
291 
294 


XXXll 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


FIGURE 

217  Field  from  Tested  Seed  —  School  Project    . 

218  ■  Corn  Roots  Studied  at  School 

2ig  Ridding  Corn  Field  of  Smut 

220  Pupils  Haul  Concentrates  and  Fill  Silos 

221  Academy  Graduate  Returns  Part-time  for  Agriculture 

222  Cost  Accounting  Neighbor's  Herd  for  Pay,  in  Addition  to  Home  Project 

223  Cost  Accounting  Employer's  Herd  ^  Substitute  for  Project 

224  " Home  Project "  Permitted  by  Employer 

225  Corn  Growing  Home  Project  —  Seeded  at  Last  Hoeing 

226  Corn  Club  Champion  ...... 

227  Pupils  Report  Results  at  Public  Meeting    . 

228  Adult  Farmers  Ask  for  Evening  Instruction 


PAGE 

29s 
296 
297 
298 
300 
301 
302 
303 
304 
305 
306 
307 


7.    HOME   PROJECT    SUPERVISION 

229  Bicycles  Help  in  Supervision        ..........  308 

230  Horses  are  Used  in  Bad  Going    ..........  309 

231  Motorcycles  Sometimes  Preferred        .........  310 

232  Automobiles  Most  Common  in  Project  Visiting           ......  311 

233  Touring  Car  for  Instructor  from  Subscriptions    .         .         .         .         .         .         .312 

234  Farmers  are  Invited  to  Help        .         .         . 313 

8.   ARENA   TYPE    OF   BUILDING 

23s  Arena  Type  of  Agricultural  School  Building        .......  316 

236  Arena  Building,  Smaller  Size       .........      318-319 

237  Arena  Addition  to  High  School,  Proposed 320 

238  Auditorium  for  Live-stock  Demonstrations          .......  322 

239  Arena  and  Auditorium  Thrown  Together    .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .323 

240  Building  Colony  Houses  in  Arena        .........  324 

241  Arena  Used  for  Recreation  when  Not  Used  for  Study  or  Work  ....  325 

242  Arena  Fence  Converted  into  Table      .........  326 

243  Poultry  Show  in  Arena        ...........  328 

244  Poultry  Demonstration  in  Auditorium         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  329 

245  Arena,  Morning  before  Horse  Show     .........  330 

246  "Earl  of  Chatham,"  Prepotent  Sire  of  Race  Horses  Shown  in  Arena           .         .  332 

247  "May  Chatham,"  Sired  by  "Earl  of  Chatham" 333 

248  High  School  Horse  Shown  in  Arena     .......         c         .  334 

249  Arena  Ribbons  Much  Coveted 335 

250  Graduation  in  the  Arena  —  Home-making  Course       ......  336 

251  Graduation  in  the  Arena  —  Agricultural  Course 337 


9     COUNTY    CONFERENCES 

252  County  Planning  Conferences     .... 

253  Tractor  Demonstration  at  Farmers'  Show  at  School 

254  Luncheon  Served  by  Home-making  Department 
25s  "Better  Babies"  Contest  at  Smith  School 
256  Arena  Exhibit  by  Manufacturers  of  County 


338 
339 
340 
341 
343 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


XXX  111 


267 
268 
269 
270 
271 
272 

273 
274 

275 
276 
277 
278 

279 

280 


281 
282 
283 
284 
28s 
286 
287 


288 
289 
290 


FIGURE 

257  Press  Notice  of  "Get  Together"  and  Exhibit 

258  Automobile  Exhibit  in  Arena       ...... 

259  Delegates  to  County  Planning  Conference 

260  Both  Vocational  and  Civic  Values  Realized 

10.    ORGANIZATION    FOR   SERVICE 

261  "I  Serve"'  Diagram  of  a  State  .\gricultural  College    . 

262  Diagram  of  a  County  Agricultural  School  Organized  to  Serve 

263  A  Community  Not  United  .         .         .         .         . 

264  Steps  in  Community  Organization       ..... 

265  A  Long-term  Program  of  a  United  Community  . 

11.    PROFESSIONAL    IMPROVEMENT 

266  Example  of  Professional  Improvement  Opportunity    . 


12.    "  CONFERENCE    ON    WHEELS  " 

Shetland  Pony  Breeding  Farm  Visited         .... 

Hackney  Horse  Breeding  —  "Marlboro"'    .... 

"Seaton  Saxton,"  Son  of  "Marlboro,"  at  Six  Weeks  Old    . 

Mr.  Spencer  Borden's  .Arabs  and  Arab  Crosses.     "Scimmeter"  in  Army  Service 

A  Sister  of  "Scimmeter"  in  the  Show  Ring 

"Segario,"  Sire  of  "Scimmeter,"  Owner  Up 

"Halcyon,"  Famous  Long-distance  Mare,  Dam  of  "Kingfisher 

"Kingfisher,""    Col.    (then    Maj.)    Frank    Tompkins    up,    on    Villa    Raid    in 

1916      ............. 

"Kingfisher'"  at  End  of  Villa  Raid      ........ 

"  Kingfisher"  Winner  of  Blue,  in  1918  at  Camp  Devens,  for  Best  Officer's  Mouni 
Draft  Horse  Breeding  —  A  Prepotent  Sire  ...... 

"Jess  of  Craigwillie,"'  Sired  by  Grand  Champion  "Fairholme  Footprint"'  o 

Langw-ater  Farms  .......... 

Owner  of  Langwater  Farms,  Host  of  1917  "Conference  on  Wheels"  . 
Conference  on  Wheels  Stopping  at  a  School        .         .         .       ■  . 


PAGE 

444 
345 
346 
347 


348 
349 
352 
354 
356, 


3S8 


360 
362 
3(>3 
364 
36s 
366 

367 

368 

370 
371 
372 

373 
374 
375 


13.    RECREATION 

Athletic  Field      .         .' 376 

Inter-county  School  Meet  —  Contests  both  .\gricultural  and  .\thletic         .         .  377 

Baseball  after  Haying           ...........  378 

Annual  Rope-pull  .\cross  School  Pond         ........  379 

Steers  Trained  by  Pupil  to  Do  Tricks          ........  380 

Community  Pageant  in  Which  Pupils  and  Instructors  Participated    .         .     382,  383 

Play  Presented  by  Pupils    ...........  385 


14  RECORD  BLANKS  AND  OTHER  FORMS 

Score  Card  for  Efficiency  of  an  Agricultural  School  or  Department 

Farm  Survey  Card  —  An  Example 

Application  and  Agreement,  Front  of  Day  Class  Card 


387 
380 
300 


XXXIV 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


FIGURE  PAGE 

291  Facilities  for  Farm  Practice  Survey,  Back  of  Day  Class  Card     ....     391 

292  Example  of  Report  of  Facilities  for  Farm  Practice  of  All  Pupils  in  a  Depart- 

ment           392-395 

|For  Section  from  Farm  Practice  Record  Blank,  see  Fig.  180) 
Projects  Must  Meet  Individual  Needs  —  Needs  of  Cranberry  Growers,  for  Ex- 


293 

ample  ........ 

294  Evening  Class  Project  Agreement  Card  —  Front 

29s  Evening  Class  Project  Agreement  Card  —  Back. 

296  Seasonal  Plan  of  Instruction  —  Kitchen  Gardening 

297  Seasonal  Plan  of  Instruction  —  Poultry  Keeping 

298  Seasonal  Plan  of  Instruction  —  Fruit  Growing    .  " 

299  Example  of  Boy's  Daily  Record 

300  Example  of  Boy's  Monthly  Summary 

301  Example  of  Boy's  Detailed  Cow  .Account    . 

302  Example  of  Boy's  Annual  Summary    . 

303  Example  of  Instruction  and  Supervision  Memorandum 
Front  of  State  Supervisor's  Record  of  Home  Project  Inspection 


396-397 
400 
401 

•  403 
404-40S 

.     408 

.     410 

412 

414-41S 
.     418 

•  427 

•  453 


•     15.    SUMMARIES    OF    EARNINGS    OF   PUPILS 
304     Earnings  of  Pupils  since  1911-1912 42Q 

16.    LIFE   HISTORY    RECORDS  —  AN    EXAMPLE 

30s     Stanley  Bartlett,  Employed  on  Hood  Farm  Jerseys 442 

306     Stanley  Bartlett's  Dairy  Home  Project  and  Present  Place  of  Employment  as  a 

Graduate 443 

17     BIRTHPLACE    OF    THE    HOME    PROJECT     . 


307 


Arena  Type  of  Classroom  and  Administration  Building.     Arena  design  sketched 
by  the  author.     Smith  Agricultural  School,  Northampton,  Mass. 


450 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 


For  the  use  of  photographs  or  negatives,  from  which  certain  of 
the  above  listed  illustrations  were  made,  the  author  is  deeply  in- 
debted to  those  for  whom,  or  by  whom,  the  pictures  were  taken. 
The  pages  on  which  the  cuts  appear  are  listed  below ;  and  the  per- 
sons to  whom  the  author  desires  to  express  his  hearty  thanks  are  as 
follows,  the  names  being  arranged  in  alphabetic  order :  Mr.  C.  S. 
Bartlett,  442-443;  Mr.  Warren  K.  Blodgett,49,  147,  212,  213,  215; 
Mr.  Spencer  Borden,  364-370;  Mr.  L.  B.  Boston,  140;  Mr.  H.  E. 
Botsford,  99;    Mr.  W.  H.  Bronson,   80,    107-109,   310;    Mr.  E.  J. 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS  XXXV 

Burke,  85-89,  139,  197-202,  235,  249,  255,  262,  263,  266,  297,  305, 
358 ;  Connecticut  River  Stock  Farm,  Mr.  Fralig,  Manager,  332 ; 
Mr.  I.  G.  Davis,  87,  205  ;  Mr.  W.  H.  Dickinson,  333 ;  Mr.  A.  W. 
Doolittle,  60,  77,  100,  186,  187;  Director  G.  H.  Gilbert,  94,  150, 
151,  241,  243,  251,  268,  281,  282,  287-289,  298,  339,  378,  379; 
Hood  Farm,  Mr.  Dodge,  Manager,  442  ;  International  Film  Service 
Inc.,  270;  Mrs.  W.  A.  King,  360 ;  Director  F.  W.  Kingman,  318,  319, 
372-374;  Director  H.  N.  Loomis,  82,  245,  277,  283,  33^-33^,  340,  34i, 
343,  345,  385  ;  Judge  W.  H.  Moore  and  his  Manager,  Mr.  George 
Chipchase,  362,  363  ;  Mr.  J.  G.  Powers,  102,  103  ;  Director  F.  A. 
Smith,  46-49,  55,  78,  142,  145,  147,  188,  191,  196,  203,  212,  213,  215, 
221-229,  230,  231,  236,  253,  254,  258,  269,  296,  349;  Director  C.  R. 
Titlow  (W.  Va.),  348;  Colonel  Frank  Tompkins,  371;  Underwood 
and  Underwood  (N.  Y.),  368,  370;  United  Cape  Cod  Cranberry 
Company,  396 ;  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  305  ;  and 
Mr.  R.  W.  Williams,  192. 

The  illustrations  on  the  other  pages  of  the  list,  not  otherwise  credited 
on  the  pages  where  they  appear,  are  photographs  and  drawings  made 
either  by  the  author  or  under  his  direction. 


INTRODUCTION 

When  in  igo6  Massachusetts  began  to  develop  state-aided  voca- 
tional education,  including  agricultural  schools,  the  State  Commis- 
sion on  Industrial  Education  had  the  duty  of  approving  directors  for 
the  schools  and  teachers  for  the  classes.  Among  the  schools  for  which 
state-aid  was  desired,  the  Smith  School  of  Northampton,  for  the  es- 
tablishment of  which  a  fund  had  been  held  in  trust  and  permitted  to 
accumulate  for  sixty  years,  came  under  the  supervision  of  the  State. 
The  Trustees  of  this  School  and  the  Commission  on  Industrial  Educa- 
tion, having  sought  diligently  for  a  suitable  director,  found  R.  W. 
Stimson,  then  President  of  the  Connecticut  Agricultural  College,  to 
be  just  the  man  they  wanted.  Mr.  Stimson  thus  became  the  director 
of  the  first  vocational  agricultural  school  in  Massachusetts.  He  de- 
signed the  arena  type  of  agricultural  school  building,  and  began  his 
studied  and  persistent  effort  to  link  school  and  home  farm  together  in 
what  has  since  become  widely  known  as  the  home-project  plan  of 
vocational  agricultural  education.  He  also  served  the  Commission  as 
special  agent  for  the  purpose' of  extending  this  type  of  education. 

When  in  1909  the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Education  was  reor- 
ganized, and  when  the  Commission  on  Industrial  Education  was 
abolished  and  its  work  became  part  of  the  work  of  the  reorganized 
Board,  Mr.  Stimson  was  continued  as  special  agent.  He  made  the 
survey  ordered  by  the  Legislature  of  19 10  to  determine  whether  or 
not  there  ought  to  be  a  system  of  vocational  agricultural  education  in 
this  Commonwealth;  and  helped  formulate  the  report.  The  next 
Legislature  approved  the  recommendations  in  this  report  and  pro- 
vided state-aid  for  both  separate  schools  and  departments  in  high 
schools  in  which  the  home-project  plan  of  agricultural  education  should 
be  followed.  In  191 1  Mr.  Stimson  resigned  as  director  of  the  Smith 
School,  and  became  the  agent  of  the  Board  for  the  supervision  of  the 
state-aided  system  of  agricultural  schools  and  departments.  As  Chair- 

xxxvii 


XXXVm  INTRODUCTION 

man  of  the  Commission  on  Industrial  Education  and  as  a  member  of 
the  Board  of  Education,  I  have  been  in  close  touch  with  Mr.  Stimson's 
work  for  eleven  years. 

Massachusetts  has  been  fortunate  in  the  services  which  Mr.  Stim- 
son  has  rendered.  His  development  of  the  "project"  method  of 
teaching  agriculture  in  our  rural  communities,  as  contrasted  with  the 
"subject"  method,  has  been  much  to  the  advantage  of  all  concerned. 
He  has,  of  course,  been  a  student  of  agricultural  education  in  other 
states  and  countries,  and  has  known  how  to  render  available  for 
Massachusetts  the  results  of  his  studies  elsewhere. 

An  introduction  to  his  book  seems  to  me  unnecessary;  because 
the  book  will  carry  its  own  message  effectively.  But,  since  I  have 
observed  the  development  of  the  home-project  plan  closely  from  the 
beginning  and  he  has  invited  me  to  write  an  introduction,  I  am  happy 
in  this  way  to  express  my  hearty  appreciation  of  Mr.  Stimson's  aims 
and  methods,  and  of  the  results  which  he  has  achieved.  I  do  not  see 
how  his  book  can  fail  to  interest  and  stimulate  all  workers  in  the  field 
which  it  covers. 

Paul  H.  Hanus. 


» 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL 

EDUCATION 

CHAPTER    I 
VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 

I.   Education 

Definition  and  agreement  as  to  terms  are  important  aids  to  profit- 
able discussion.  We  are  all  pretty  well  agreed  as  to  what  is  meant 
by  education.  Education,  as  the  derivation  of  the  word  suggests, 
means  the  drawing  out  and  development  of  the  best  capabilities  latent 
within  the  individual. 

(i)  Modern  versus  medievaL  —  In  modern  usage,  education  means 
beginning  to  draw  out  the  powers  of  the  individual  at  the  earliest 
possible  minute  in  the  child's  life,  and  the  continuance  of  carefully 
studied  efforts  for  the  development  of  those  powers  well  on  into  young 
manhood  and  womanhood.  We  do  not  wait  for  the  child  to  come  to 
the  primary  school,  or  even  to  the  kindergarten ;  we  hold  mothers' 
meetings  in  order  that  we  may  begin  with  the  babe. 

He  who  visits  Harvard  University,  on  entering  the  main  gate  lead- 
ing to  University  Hall  finds  on  his  left  old  Harvard  Hall,  the  tongue 
of  whose  belfry  has  called  generation  after  generation  of  young  men 
to  lectures  and  to  prayers.  On  his  right  he  finds  old  Massachusetts 
Hall.  The  Old  South  Church  across  the  Charles  in  Boston  has  been 
called  the  birthplace  of  American  liberty.  Faneuil  Hall,  Boston,  has 
been  called  the  Cradle  of  Liberty.  In  a  very  important  sense  old 
Massachusetts  Hall  might  well  be  called  a  schoolhouse  of  liberty,  — 
so  many  succeeding  classes  of  young  men,  afterwards  potent  in 
centers  of  influence,  have  been  schooled  within  its  walls  in  the 
history  and  principles  of  American  freedom. 


2  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

A  niche  has  been  built  into  the  front  of  this  old  colonial  building. 
When  the  class  of  1883  was  deciding  who  might  most  appropriately 
occupy  that  spot,  they  chose  a  man  who  has  been  called  by  one  of  our 
hard-working  scientific  men  "  perhaps  the  best  poet  for  the  working 
man,"  James  Russell  Lowell.  And  when  the  sentiment  to  appear  on 
the  pedestal  beneath  the  bronze  bust  was  chosen,  these  were  the 
words  cut  into  the  marble : 

I,  Freedom,  Dwell  With 

Knowledge :    I  Abide 

With  Men  By  Culture 

Trained  and  Fortified. 

From  the  first  moment,  American  freedom  has  been  joined  to  knowl- 
edge ;  Americans  everywhere  —  selected  Americans  —  have  been 
trained  and  fortified  by  the  cultivation  of  their  higher  and  finer  powers. 
We  have  sought  the  safety  of  democracy  in  education. 

The  period  since  our  Civil  War  is  one  of  most  extraordinary  interest 
to  the  student  of  the  history  of  teaching.  While  eradication  of  ig- 
norance and  development  of  personal  power  have  been  constant  aims, 
there  have  been  marvelous  changes  in  means  and  methods.  During 
much  of  this  period  there  has  been  one  great  slogan,  "  Mental  dis- 
cipline." 

For  eight  hundred  years  one  type  of  training  had  dominated  the 
schools.  The  first  higher  school  of  our  fathers  was  to  no  small  ex- 
tent a  survival  of  the  Middle  Ages,  those  twilight  days  one  of  the 
"  idiosyncrasies  "  of  which  was  a  "  mystical  reverence  "  for  the  num- 
ber seven.  There  were  "  seven  planets,"  "  seven  metals,"  "  seven 
days  in  the  week,"  "  seven  apertures  in  a  man's  head,"  "  seven 
cardinal  virtues,"  "  seven  deadly  sins,"  "  seven  sacraments."  It 
probably  was  more  than  merely  a  coincidence  that  studies  had  been 
divided  into  groups  of  three  and  four.  Grammar,  Logic,  and 
Rhetoric  constituted  the  so-called  Trivium;  Arithmetic,  Geometry, 
Astronomy,  and  Music  made  up  the  so-called  Quadrmum.  Until 
recently,  education,  not  only  in  colleges,  but  also  in  secondary 
schools  —  education  claiming  for  its  watchword  "  Mental  disci- 
pline " —  has  been  very  largely  of  the  language-number,  of  the 
Trivium-Quadrivium,  type. 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION  3 

While  the  casements  in  the  Capitol  at  Washington  were  still  rattling 
with  the  cannonading  across  the  Potomac,  however,  there  came  signs 
and  portents  of  change.  The  names  of  Darwin  and  Wallace,  Huxley 
and  Tyndall,  Louis  Agassiz  and  Asa  Gray,  were  commanding  atten- 
tion and  respect.  That  is  to  say,  powerful  influences  for  change  were 
at  work  even  within  the  schools  and  colleges  themselves. 

Perhaps  of  keenest  interest  to  us  to-day  are  two  influences  which, 
as  the  years  have  passed,  have  exerted  marked  modifying  power ;  — 
both  acting  on  established  education,  not  from  within  the  schools, 
but  from  without. 

(2)  "  What  knowledge  is  of  most  worth?  "  —  It  is  not  far  from 
fifty  years  ago  that  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  put  into  print,  and  chal- 
lenged the  public  with,  the  question:  "  What  knowledge  is  of  most 
worth?  "  Answering  for  himself,  he  said  :  A.  That  knowledge  which 
has  to  do  with  self-preservation.  The  little  babe's  eyes  must  be 
protected  from  the  bright  light  lest  they  suffer  harm.  His  first  steps 
must  be  steadied  lest  he  fall.  Berries  good  for  food  he  must  be  taught 
to  pick,  not  berries  from  bushes  which  poison.  As  the  years  advance, 
every  stage  of  life  calls  for  special  care  lest  the  body  suffer  injury. 
All  things  which  have  to  do  directly  with  self-preservation  are  of  the 
first  importance.  B.  That  knowledge  which  has  to  do  indirectly 
with  self-preservation.  Here  Mr.  Spencer  referred  to  training  which 
develops  power  to  earn  a  livelihood.  All  occupational  knowledge  is 
here  included.  The  body  must  not  only  be  protected  from  harm,  it 
also  must  steadily  be  sustained  and  promoted  in  well-being.  C.  That 
knowledge  which  has  to  do  with  parenthood,  including  all  training 
necessary  for  the  creation  and  well-being  of  family  life.  D.  That 
knowledge  which  is  conducive  to  social  or  community  welfare. 
E.  Finally,  that  knowledge  which  has  to  do  with  the  graces  and  re- 
finements of  Hfe,  including  literature,  music,  —  fine  art  in  all  forms. 

Mr.  Spencer's  discussion  was  of  unusual  value,  owing  to  the  breadth 
and  thoroughness  of  his  treatment  of  education.  It  was  unique  for 
the  order  in  which  he  stated  the  objects  of  knowledge  and  their  rela- 
tive worth.  Before  art  and  refinement,  he  put  social  and  community 
well-being.  Before  knowledge  of  history  and  politics,  he  put  knowl- 
edge of  parental  functions  and  obligations.     Before  all  these  he  put 


4  VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 

that  elemental  knowledge  which  has  to  do  with  vocational  efficiency. 

What  gave  Mr.  Spencer's  contribution  its  most  searching  pedagogic 
importance  was  his  insistence  on  the  relatively  higher  educational 
value  of  vocational  knowledge  for  the  average  student  in  the  average 
college  and  no  less  for  the  average  pupil  in  the  average  school.  The 
school  men  could  not  escape  his  psychology  nor  his  logic.  The  friends 
of  the  common  people  received  his  message  gladly.  Almost  immedi- 
ately his  doctrine  crossed  to  the  continent,  and  there  was  translated 
into  French,  German,  Italian,  Russian,  Hungarian,  Danish,  and  Dutch. 
Simultaneously  it  crossed  the  Atlantic. 

In  short,  Mr.  Spencer  and  those  who  espoused  his  views,  or  some- 
thing like  them,  once  for  all  protested  against  the  domination  of  the 
familiar  ideal  in  education,  that  mental  discipline  was  the  supreme 
thing.  Knowledge,  to  be  of  worth,  must  not  only  train  the  mind ; 
it  must  also  furnish  it  for  the  immediate,  pressing,  practical  affairs 
of  life. 

(3)  "Liberal  and  practical."  —  Parallel  with  the  scientific  and 
philosophical  treatment  of  education  by  Mr.  Spencer  came  the  es- 
tablishment and  development  of  the  land-grant  colleges,  a  move- 
ment, again,  which  originated  outside  the  schools.  It  sprang  from 
that  remarkable  farmer,  blacksmith,  village  banker,  and  for  many 
years  influential  member  of  Congress,  the  late  Senator  Justin  S. 
Morrill  of  Vermont.  Mr.  Morrill  contended  that  Congress  and  the 
legislatures  of  the  several  states  ought  to  unite  in  furnishing  a  "  liberal 
and  practical  "  education.  We  should  equip  all  young  men  and  all 
young  women  for  success  in  life ;  some  for  usefulness  in  the  learned 
professions,  others  for  success  in  the  great,  basic,  economic  industries. 
The  history  of  the  development  of  the  land-grant  colleges  need  not 
here  be  traced,  so  familiar  with  it  are  we  all,  and  so  profoundly  con- 
vinced are  we  of  the  educational  wisdom  and  foresight  of  this  past 
master  of  public  affairs. 

The  practical  program  of  Mr.  Morrill,  like  the  educational  ideas 
of  Mr.  Spencer,  met  with  opposition  but  prevailed  in  spite  of  it.  The 
first  Morrill  bill,  as  Dr.  Abram  Harris  has  reminded  us,  was  vetoed 
by  the  "  gentleman-president,"  James  Buchanan;  the  Morrill  Act  of 
1862  was  approved  by  the  rail-splitter,  Abraham  Lincoln. 


VOCATION.\L   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION  5 

(4)  Practical  and  liberaL  —  Happily,  as  the  years  have  passed, 
the  new  education  and  the  old  have  been  joining  hands.  The  old 
college  has  affected  the  new,  and  the  new  college  has  modified  the  old. 
The  training  in  the  new  college,  Mr.  Morrill  said,  must  be  liberal  and 
practical.  The  education  in  the  old  college,  leaders  to-day  are  demon- 
strating, may  be  both  practical  and  liberal. 

So  imitative  of  the  college  is  the  school,  in  both  spirit  and  methods, 
that  we  may  almost  say,  "  As  does  the  college,  so  does  the  school." 
Thus  the  new  college  spirit  and  methods  are  doubly  significant.  The 
brother  of  a  Harvard  student  came  to  Cambridge  on  a  visit.  As  a 
boy  he  could  never  be  made  to  apply  himself  to  books,  because  school 
books  did  not  seem  to  him  to  apply  to  life.  Once  out  of  the  grip  of 
the  compulsory  attendance  law,  he  left  school  and  learned  the  plumb- 
er's trade.  During  this  visit,  he  went  with  his  brother  to  a  lecture 
in  a  course  in  ethics  called  "  Philosophy  3,"  presented  by  Professor 
George  Herbert  Palmer.  It  was  not  "  Philosophy  i,"  an  elementary 
course;  nor  yet  "Philosophy  2."  It  was  a  decidedly  advanced 
course  in  the  midst  of  which  he  spent  that  hour.  Knowing  the  family 
circumstances,  the  author  was  exceedingly  curious  to  learn  what 
would  be  the  effect  on  such  a  man's  mind  of  modern  Harvard ;  and 
at  the  close  of  the  lecture  asked  him  how  he  liked  it.  His  answer  was 
illuminating.  "That,"  he  said,  "is  what  I  call  getting  right  down 
to  brass  tacks! " 

Harvard  is  typical  of  the  best,  in  her  aims  and  in  her  methods. 
Individual  freedom  achieved  by  cultivation,  teaching  getting  right 
down  to  the  brass  tacks  of  living,  this,  to-day,  is  education  at  its  best. 

(5)  Not  a  matter  of  a  moment.  —  Four  years  in  high  school,  four 
years  in  college,  and  three  or  four  years  in  a  professional  school  we  do 
not  consider  too  much  time  for  the  proper  education  of  him  who  shows 
aptitude  for  a  professional  career,  whether  in  medicine,  divinity,  law, 
engineering,  or,  more  recently,  in  business  administration  or  in  agri- 
culture. On  the  whole,  we  believe  that  he  is  best  prepared  to  do  the 
things  the  world  wants  done  who  is  longest  and  most  carefully  trained. 
And  our  pronoun  "  he  "  is  used  in  the  generic  sense,  —  our  belief  as 
to  the  demands  of  long  and  thorough  training  applies  to  the  develop- 
ment of  talent,  without  discrimination  as  to  sex. 


6  VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 

2.    Vocational  Education 

Vocational  education,  as  defined  in  Massachusetts,  includes  all 
forms  of  specialized  education  the  controlling  purposes  of  which  are  to 
fit  for  useful  occupations.  The  aims  of  vocational  education  here  are, 
therefore,  to  draw  out  and  develop  the  vocational  capabilities  of  the 
individual. 

There  are  those  who  think  that  for  the  practical  boy,  as  distinguished 
from  the  bookish  boy,  vocational  education  might  well  begin  before 
the  fourteenth  birthday.  In  the  elementary  schools,  shop  work, 
gardening,  elementary  agriculture,  and  instruction  in  household  arts 
may  render  an  important  service  by  helping  children  to  test  their 
native  abilities  and  discover  their  special  aptitudes.  These  elements 
of  the  public  school  curriculum  have  been  found  valuable  aids  to 
intellectual  progress ;  and,  no  doubt,  in  certain  cases,  have  helped  wise 
choice  of  the  type  of  schooling  later  to  be  followed.  They  may  have 
strong  pre-vocational  or  vocational  guidance  values. 

(i)  For  those  over  fourteen.  —  In  Massachusetts,  however,  there 
has  been  no  effort,  in  legislation  or  in  the  general  policy  of  the  Board 
of  Education,  to  invade  the  elementary  schools  with  vocational  edu- 
cation. On  the  contrary,  vocational  education  addresses  itself  to 
those  who  no  longer  are  thrust  into  the  schoolroom  by  the  strong 
hand  of  the  compulsory  school  attendance  law,  but  who  are  free  to 
go  to  school  longer  or  to  stay  away  according  as  they  themselves,  or 
their  parents,  may  determine.  Vocational  education  in  Massachu- 
setts, for  which  state  aid  has  been  provided  and  for  which  federal  aid 
is  now  available,  is,  in  short,  organized  and  conducted  with  direct 
reference  to  meeting  the  requirements  of  pupils  fourteen  years  of  age 
or  older.  Vocational  education  is,  moreover,  definitely  and  frankly 
vocational.  It  undertakes  to  train  the  pupil  for  farming,  for  home- 
making,  or  for  some  trade  or  industrial  pursuit. 

(2)  Of  less  than  college  grade.  —  To  the  extent  that  a  school  or 
college  leads  to  mastery  of  tools,  whether  mental  or  mechanical,  re- 
quired for  success  in  the  chosen  occupation,  its  education  is  vocational. 
On  the  outer  gate,  within  a  stone's  throw  of  the  Lowell  memorial  above 
referred  to,  one  reads  the  ancient  inscription  that  the  primary  object 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION  7 

in  the  founding  of  Harvard  College  was  to  protect  the  children  of  the 
colonists  from  the  legacy  of  "an  illiterate  ministry."  The  first  edu- 
cational undertaking  at  Harvard  was  the  making  of  ministers,  an 
undertaking  definitely  vocational.  To  the  extent  that  higher  institu- 
tions, including  the  land-grant  colleges,  are  practical  as  well  as  liberal 
in  their  aims,  equipment,  and  methods,  their  education,  of  course,  may 
be  vocational. 

But  the  vocational  education  described  in  detail  in  the  following 
pages  is  intended  to  be  of  less  than  college  grade.  Its  purpose,  that  is 
to  say,  is  not  to  displace  other  schooling,  but  to  fill  a  gap  in  educa- 
tion for  pupils  of  high  school  age  and  to  provide  short  units  of 
training  for  those  in  later  life  who  were 
without  this  type  of  training  in  their  high 
school  years. 

(3)  Vocational  versus  cultural.  — High 
school  education  of  the  strongly  cultural 
type,  where  classical  studies,  mental  dis- 
cipline, and  preparation  for  college  have     p^^   ^  _^^.^  ^^^  ^^.p^^^^^t  ,3^. 

engaged    the  energies  of    the    pupils,  has  ondary  education  of  the  earlier 

been  held  in  high  estimation.     We  have        ^^^""^  ^^  ^   capital   "  C."    It 

,      ,      ,  .  -  _       _,  .  ,  prepared  for  college.     Classical 

looked  up  to  It.  Mr.  Emerson  said,  ^^^^.^^  ^^^  mathematics  were 
"Hitch  your  wagon  to  a  star."  Pro-  strongly  featured.  "  Mental  Dis- 
ponents and  exponents  of  this  type  of  cipline "  was  its  cry.  It  was  ex- 
training  have  said,  "  Behold  the  star  of 

education.  To  this  we  hitch  our  wagon. ' '  Because  schools  of  this  t^-pe 
have  so  greatly  multiplied,  because  our  young  people  have  thronged  to 
them  in  such  numbers,  because  our  best  high  schools  are  so  much  better 
than  many  of  the  colleges  of  earlier  days,  but  also  because  such  a  vast 
majority  of  these  young  people  end  their  institutional  education  on 
completion  of  their  high  school  courses,  the  American  high  school  has 
been  called  the  "  People's  College." 

The  cultural  high  school  has  had  our  approval.  To  prepare  for 
college  and  to  give  general  education,  the  cultural  high  school  is  e.x- 
cellent.  Indeed,  no  country  in  the  world  has  equaled  our  own  in 
the  development  of  such  training.  We  are  now  talking  in  terms  of 
war.     Prior  to  the  outbreak  of  our  Civil  War,  there  were  not  forty 


8 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTUR-\L   EDUCATION 


public  high  schools  in  the  United  States.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war 
with  Germany,  we  had  twelve  thousand  such  high  schools.  A  decade 
before  our  war  with  Spain,  the  enrollment  in  these  schools  was  hardly 
two  hundred  thousand.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  present  war,  their 
enrollment  had  reached  almost  one  million  two  hundred  thousand,  or 
"  a  growth  that  has  been  at  least  ten  times  as  fast  as  that  of  the  popu- 
lation." Professor  W.  C.  Bagley,  who  has  assembled  these  figures, 
has  declared  this  to  be  "  the  most  significant  triumph  of  American 
pubKc  education  during  the  past  half  century."     And  he  has  added, 

"  Not  only  is  this  true,  but  we  have  in 
the  public  secondary  schools  of  the  United 
States  almost  as  many  pupils  as  there 
are  enrolled  in  the  secondary  schools  of 
all  the  rest  of  the  civilized  countries 
combined,  —  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
our  period  of  secondary  training 
covers  only  four  years  as  against  six, 
eight,  or  nine  years  in  most  other 
countries."  ^ 

A.  Limited  appeal  of  cultural  educa- 
tion. —  The  trouble  has  been  that,  of 
the  host  of  young  people  of  high  school 
age,  so  few  have  continued  in  school. 
Everybody  has  noticed  the  enormous 
faUing  off  in  school  attendance  at  the 
fourteenth  birthday.  Employers  have  noticed,  too,  that  those  who 
have  presented  themselves  for  work  at  fourteen  have  neither  been 
prepared  for  good  work,  nor  possessed  of  such  mental  ability  as  they 
have  thought  public  school  education  ought  to  give  before  releasing 
pupils  for  labor. 

A  result  of  observations  such  as  these  was  the  appointment  in 
Massachusetts,  in  1905,  of  the  so-called  Douglas  Commission  on 
Industrial  Education,  of  which  the  late  Carroll  D.  Wright  was  chair- 


FiG.  2.  —  Because  so  few  were  at- 
tracted to  the  earlier  secondary 
education,  or  because  so  many 
were  repelled  by  it,  adventures 
were  made  with  a  new  type  ot 
education,  called  vocational. 
We  may  represent  this  by  a 
capital  "  V."  It  aimed  to  be- 
gin with  the  fundamental  needs 
of  those  who  desire  to  follow 
practical,  as  distinguished  from 
professional,  pursuits. 


•"Principles  Justifjnng  Common  Elements  in  the  School  Program,"  an  address  by 
Professor  W.  C.  Bagley  at  University  of  Illinois,  High  School  Conference,  November  19, 
1914.     For  abstract,  see  December,  1914,  number  of  School  and  Home  Education. 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


man,  and  which  undertook  for  the  Legislature  a  careful  study  of  the 
conditions  in  this  state  with  a  view  to  their  improvement. 

B.  Schools  of  privilege.  —  Twenty-five  thousand  boys  and  girls 
were  found,  fourteen  to  sixteen  years  of  age,  who  were  not  in  school 
and  who  were  not  at  work,  or  who,  if  at  work,  were  engaged  in  tem- 
porary or  "  dead  end  "  occupations.  Asked  why  they  were  not  in 
school,  they  replied  with  astonishing  unanimity  that  there  was  "  noth- 
ing doing  "  in  school  for  them.  They  had  a  feeling  that  the  schools 
had  nothing  to  give  them  which  would  help  them  to  earn  a  living, 
and  that,  in  general,  the  high  schools  were 
being  "  run  "  for  the  benefit  of  those  who 
were  to  follow  clerical  or  professional 
careers,  not  for  those  who  were  to  enter 
industrial  or  agricultural  Hfe.  Their  par- 
ents agreed  with  them,  and  added  that  it 
cost  a  great  deal  to  keep  children  in 
school ;  that  out  of  school  there  was  a 
saving  on  clothing  and  car  fares ;  that 
work,  even  at  odd  jobs  with  ven,^  little 
pay,  still  yielded  some  income  toward  the 
support  of  the  family. 

C.  Schools  of  protest.  —  The  Douglas 
Commission,  therefore,  recommended  that 
a  permanent  commission  on  industrial 
education,  including  agriculture,  or  at 
least  such  a  commission  to  serve  for  a 
period  of  years,  be  appointed  to  study  the  matter  further,  with  power 
to  aid  in  the  establishment  of  industrial  schools  for  the  express  benefit 
of  boys  and  girls  fourteen  years  of  age  or  older  who,  in  the  absence  of 
such  schools,  as  experience  had  shown,  would  not  be  in  school  at  all. 
The  Legislature  appointed  another  commission,  of  which  Professor 
Paul  H.  Hanus  of  Harvard  was  made  chairman,  and  provided  state 
aid  for  those  communities  which  should  establish  independent  indus- 
trial or  agricultural  schools,  to  the  amount  of  one  half  the  cost  of  main- 
tenance, on  condition  that  the  new  schools  must  first  be  approved  as 
to  courses,  location,  and  methods  of  teaching  by  the  Commission. 


Fig.  3.  —  There  is  scarcely  a  high 
school  to-day  of  the  earlier 
type.  Most  large  high  schools 
have  differentiated  their  courses, 
in  terms  of  probable  careers  of 
their  pupils.  No  one  course  is 
now  held  to  be  best  for  everj'- 
body. 

The  modern  high  school,  therefore, 
has  vocational  characteristics 
and  may  be  represented  by  the 
modified  symbol  above  sug- 
gested. 


lO 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


D.   An  army  out  of  schooL  —  Almost  immediately  the  new  Com- 
mission found  that  to  the  twenty-five  thousand  out  of  school  reported 

by  the  Douglas  Commission,  thousands 
more  must  be  added.  The  following 
brief  statement  regarding  the  situation 
was  made  later,  after  the  work  of  the 
Commission  had  been  taken  over  by  the 
new  Board  of  Education,  by  Mr.  C.  A. 
Prosser,  then  Deputy  Commissioner  of 
Education  for  Massachusetts: 


Fig.  4.  —  Moreover,  as  time  has 
passed,  vocational  education  has 
developed  pronounced  cultural 
values ;  so  much  so,  that  a  bet- 
ter symbol  for  the  modern  vo- 
cational school  or  department  is 
needed.  Such  a  symbol  is  sug- 
gested above  at  the  right. 


"A  conservative  estimate  would  be  that  every 
year  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts  from  twenty- 
five  thousand  to  thirty  thousand  boys  and  girls, 
on  reaching  the  age  of  fourteen,  leave  the  schools 
to  go  to  work.  This  army  is  four  times  as  large 
as  the  group  which  at  approximately  the  same  age 
one  out  of  six  of 


enters  the  high  school.  Only 
these  children  of  tender  years  taking  up  some  wage 
earning  occupation  has  reached  the  eighth  year  or 
grade  of  the  elementary  schools ;  only  one  out  of 
every  four  has  attained  the  seventh  year;  only 
one  out  of  every  two,  the  sixth  year." 

In  Two  States,  January,  191 2,  a  mag- 
azine pubHshed  by  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations  of  Massachusetts 
and  Rhode  Island,  Mr.  William  Chandler 
Smith,  Educational  Secretary,  graphically 
indicated  the  trend  away  from  school  by 
means  of  photographs.  Beginning  with 
a  group  of  one  hundred  pupils  entering  a 
public  school,  he  showed  fewer  than  fifty 
at  the  fifth  grade,  thirty-five  at  the  sixth 
grade,  twenty-three  entering  the  seventh 
grade,  fifteen  eighth-grade  graduates,  and 
three  graduates  from  high  school. 

E.    A  problem  of  conservation.  —  We  talk  about  the  conservation 
of  natural  resources.     Here  is  a  grave  problem ;  for  what  can  compare 


Fig.  5.  —  We  shall  probably  make 
best  headway,  therefore,  by 
recognizing  distinct  fields  for 
two  well-defined  types  of  sec- 
ondary education :  the  modern 
high  school  with  some  differen- 
tiation of  courses,  and  the 
modern  vocational  school  with 
cultural  values.  Neither  is 
higher  nor  lower  than  the  other. 
They  are  on  a  level,  but  in 
different  fields. 

This  book  deals  with  the  type 
represented  by  the  symbol  at 
the  right. 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


II 


in  importance,  to  the  nation  or  to  any  commonwealth,  with  the 
proper  conservation  of  two  or  four  years  in  the  lives  of  thousands  of 
boys  and  girls,  hurried  forward  by  the  years  toward  maturity  in  a 
mass  disordered  and  unimproved  ?     Here  are  thousands  on  thousands 

\bun^  America's  Opportunity 


At' 
25  Y«r.  $12.75  $663 

$12.00  $624 

$11.75  $611 

$930 

$7.00 

$5.00 

$4.00 


here  we  have  the  Jain  of 
the  moment 


F.*Y-^P^^-. 

Atf, 

$1,612  $31 

2SYctn 

$1,196  $23 

2*     ' 

$1,040  $20 

22     - 

$15 

20     - 

$10 

18     - 

16     - 

14     " 

and  here  we  have  the 
gfreater  ^atn  of  the  future 


Of  course  you  can  get  bigger  wages  now 
on  account  of  the  war.  But  the  above 
figures  represent  the  actual  experience  of 
hundrecls  of  New  York  City  pupils  who 
left  school  during  peace  times.  Peace 
times  will  come  again  and  then  war  wages 
will  drop.  Peace  times  are  the  long  times. 
Stay  in  school. 


THE  GUIDE-POST 

Fiiurn  fron  Burtau  of  EJuralion  Bulletin  No.  2i  by  A.  Cmuirll  Ellii.     Charltd  by  Butrau  of  Educalionul  Srrvicr,  Boifon  Unwrriily 

Fig.  6.  —  From  Vol.  i,  No.  2,  April,  1918,  of  Young  America's  Opportunity,  published  by 
Bureau  of  Educational  Service,  Boston  University,  Boston,  Mass.,  to  create,  stimulate, 
and  direct  interest  in  the  continuation  of  educational  preparation,  and  in  the  molding 
and  stabilizing  of  American  Ideals. 

The  agricultural  instructor  will  find  issues  of  this  paper  valuable  aids  in  efforts  to  keep 
boys  from  dropping  out  of  school. 

whom  the  traditional  high  schools  have  either  failed  to  hold  or  have 
positively  repelled.  And  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  this  number 
consists  of  farm  boys  and  girls,  who,  in  the  absence  of  education  suited 
to  their  needs,  have  dropped  out  of  school  on  reaching  their  fourteenth 
birthdays. 

"  They  are  a  worthless  lot.     You  can't  do  anything  with  them  !  " 

Such  a  statement  as  the  above,  which  was  made  in  19 10  by  a  man  in 

the  western  part  of  our  state,  was  impossible  of  acceptance.     Granted 


12  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTUR-\L   EDUCATION 

that  some  on  close  acquaintance  will  be  found  to  be  incompetent,  fit 
subjects  for  schools  for  defectives  ;  granted,  also,  that  some  wall  prove 
to  be  incorrigible,  fit  only  to  be  handled  by  some  reformatory  or  re- 
straining institution.  There  still  remain  the  great  mass  who  are 
neither  defective  nor  incorrigible.  For  these  something  can,  some- 
thing must,  be  done. 

Nor  was  it  possible,  with  equanimity,  to  take  the  ground  assumed 
at  about  the  same  time  by  another  of  our  citizens,  an  educator  of  some 
prominence,  who  said  he  was  not  so  sure,  after  all,  that  it  is  not  a  good 
thing  for  most  boys  and  girls  to  leave  school  at  fourteen. 

"In  the  next  two  or  four  years,"  he  said,  "  they  will  be  doing  two  good  things  — 
growing  up,  and  learning  to  mind.  JMost  boys  think  obedience  is  a  peculiar  re- 
quirement made  by  parents  and  schoolmasters.  The  boj'  discharged  from  one  job, 
then  from  another,  for  a  few  times,  on  account  of  carelessness  or  disobedience,  will 
at  last  learn  that  obedience  —  discipline,  ability  to  take  orders  and  carry  them  out 
promptly  and  exactly  — ■  is  one  of  the  fundamental  necessities  of  society.  Life  itself 
in  the  workaday  world  is  one  of  the  best  teachers  of  this  important  fact.  Given  a 
boy  grown  up  and  taught  to  mind,  and  you  can  do  something  with  him." 

Advocates  of  vocational  education  desire  physical  fitness  and  moral 
tractabihty,  but  have  believed  these  can  best  be  secured  by  well- 
ordered  vocational  education. 

Confession  is  good  for  the  soul.  An  important  confession  for  us  all 
has  been  made  by  the  Hon.  WilHam  C.  Redfield,  Secretary  of  Com- 
merce, in  his  Introduction  to  the  book  by  Lapp  and  Mote  on 
"  Learning  to  Earn  "  in  the  following  words : 

"We  are  just  beginning  to  realize  that  by  the  failure  of  some  phases  of  our  educa- 
tional systems  to  meet  the  living  needs  of  li\ing  boys  and  girls,  we  are  permitting 
them  to  enter  a  sort  of  death  in  life  which  is  having  most  hurtful  eflFects  on  our 
country-.  Our  complacency  over  the  value  of  the  common  school  to  our  people  is 
being  rudely  disturbed,  for  many  if  not  most  of  our  young  people  emerge  from 
that  same  common  school  quite  without  adjustment  to  the  daily  life  thej^  must 
hereafter  lead,  and  almost  if  not  altogether  without  the  training  fitting  them  for  the 
workaday  world  in  which  they  must  live.  .  .  .  None  of  us  can  be  satisfied  to  allow 
things  to  remain  educationally  as  they  are ;  to  permit  our  children  to  go  out  into  a 
life  which  is  a  blind  alley;  to  reach  a  mental  'impasse'  before  maturity  is  well 
begun." 

The  serious  problem  of  vocational  education,  we  see,  then,  is  the 
conservation  of  the  natural  resources  of  childhood,  particularly  the 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


13 


years  fourteen  to  sixteen  or  eighteen,  by  educational  methods  which 
naturally  and  effectively  appeal  to  the  active,  but  non-bookish,  boy 


I 


EVERY  DAY  SPENT  IN  SCHOOL 
PAYS  THE  CHILD  NINE  DOLLARS 

$9.02      $$$$$$$$$     $9.02 

HERE  iS  THE  PROOF: 

UNEDUCATED  LABORERS  EARN  ON 
THE  AVERAGE  $500  PER  YEAR  FOR 
FORTY  YEARS,  A  TOTAL  OF      $20,000 

HIGH-SCHOOL  GRADUATES  EARN  ON 
THE  AVERAGE  $1000  PER  YEAR  FOR 
FORTY  YEARS,  A  TOTAL  OF       $40,000 

THIS  EDUCATION  REQUIRED  12  YEARS 
OF  SCHOOL  OF  180  DAYS  EACH,  A  TO- 
TAL OF  2160  DAYS  IN  SCHOOL. 

IF  2160  DAYS  AT  SCHOOL  ADD  $20,000 
TO  THE  INCOME  FOR  LIFE,  THEN  EACH 
DAY  AT  SCHOOL  ADDS  $9.02. 

$9.02     $$$$$$$$$      $9.02 

THE  CHILD  THAT  STAYS  OUT  OF  SCHOOL 
TO  EARN  LESS  THAN  $9.00  A  DAY  IS 
LOSING  MONEY,  NOT  MAKING  MONEY 

$9.02     $$$$$$$$$      $9.02 


Fig.  7.  —  A  chart  from  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education  Bulletin,  igiy,  No.  22,  "The  Money 
Value  of  Education."  By  A.  Caswell  Ellis,  Professor  of  the  Philosophy  of  Education, 
University  of  Te.xas. 

and  girl.  Mr.  Frederick  P.  Fish,  Chairman  of  the  Massachusetts 
Board  of  Education,  has  well  put  the  case  for  what  might  be  termed 
an  irreducible  minimum  of  justification  for  vocational  education. 

"Sad  is  the  lot,"  he  says,  "of  the  ordinary  boy  or  girl  who  leaves  school  and  goes 
to  work  at  fourteen.     The  skilled  employments  have  no  place  for  such;    they  are 


14  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTUR.\L   EDUCATION 

likely  to  drift  into  the  very  lowest  grades  of  work  and  stay  there  for  the  rest  of  their 
lives.  If  the  vocational  school  were  of  no  value  except  as  a  device  to  keep  at  school 
for  an  additional  two  years  those  who  would  otherwise  go  to  work  prematurely,  its 
existence  would  be  justified." 

F.  Individual  versus  mass.  —  Vocational  education,  it  is  evident, 
has  a  massive  problem.  Its  central  concern,  however,  is  not  with 
the  mass  but  with  the  individual.  In  the  rush  of  school  work  the 
class  has  sometimes  blinded  both  administrator  and  teacher  to  the 


Education  and  farm  income  in  New  York.  —  Warren  and 
Livermore,  of  Cornell,  made  a  study  of  1303  farmers  in  four 
townships  of  Tompkins  County,  N.  Y.  They  found  that  no 
college  graduate  had  been  reduced  to  the  position  of  a  renter, 
and  that  only  17  per  cent  of  the  renters  had  more  than  the 
district-school  education.  The  average  labor  income  was  as 
follows : 

Per  Year 

Of  1007  with  district-school  education $318 

Of  280  with  high-school  education        622 

Of  16  with  college  education 847 

Of  those  with  high-school  education,  20  per  cent  were 
making  over  $1000  per  year,  while  only  5  per  cent  of  those 
with  district-school  education  "were  making  that  much. 


Fig.  8.  —  From  "Education  of  Farmers,"  Cornell  University  Bulletin  295,  reprinted  in 
"The  Money  Value  of  Education,"  referred  to  on  page  13.  See  also  Figures  6  and 
7,  on  pages  11  and  13. 

individual,  —  fit  cause  for  repentance.  He  who  would  enter  seriously 
on  vocational  education  may  well  be  admonished  by  these  memorable 
words  of  Edward  Howard  Griggs,  in  his  preface  to  "  The  Stor>'  of  a 
Child,"  by  Pierre  Loti : 

"There  are  always  two  points  of  view  possible  with  reference  to  life.  From  the 
standpoint  of  nature  and  science,  individuals  count  for  little.  Nature  can  waste  a 
thousand  acorns  to  raise  one  oak,  hundreds  of  children  may  be  sacrificed  that  a  truth 
may  be  seen.  But  from  the  ethical  and  human  point  of  view  the  meaning  of  all  life 
is  in  each  individual.  That  one  child  should  be  lost  is  a  kind  of  ruin  to  the  uni- 
verse." 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

Working   Conditions   In 
Vocational  Schools 


15 


a 


A  REAL  JOB 


fj 


Apprentice  at  work  in  Fore  River  Ship  Yard  witli  Sitilled  Meclianics 
Alternate  Weelts  in  Scliool  and  Yard 

Worl(  under  Sucli  Conditions  Spurs  to  Competition 

Fig.  g. — -Helping  to  produce  a  wholesome  and  abundant  food  supply  for  a  locality  or  for 
a  nation  also  is  a  "real  job."  A  chart  prepared  by  Mr.  Charles  R.  Allen  for  the 
Massachusetts  Vocational  Educational  Exhibit  at  the  Panama  Pacific  E.xposition. 


1 6  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 

And  he  who  would  participate  in  vocational  education,  whether  as 
pupil  or  as  instructor,  might  well  adopt  for  his  platform  of  action  these 
recent  declarations  by  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott : 

"The  object  of  education  should  not  be  to  run  all  pupils  into  the  same  mold. 
The  school  should  not  be  a  foundry.  The  object  should  be  to  give  every  pupil  a 
chance  to  grow.  The  school  should  be  a  garden.  Education,  therefore,  should 
prepare  for  life,  which  is  itself  the  larger  education.  It  should  be  adapted  to  the 
present  conditions  and  the  prospective  needs  of  the  pupil.  The  growing  recogni- 
tion of  this  truth  has  created  optionalism  in  education,  has  added  industrial  train- 
ing to  academic  education,  has  provided,  as  never  before,  for  woman's  education. 
To  enjoy  an  opportunity  for  education  is  the  right  of  every  individual ;  to  make 
that  opportunity  so  varied  as  to  meet  the  varied  needs  of  the  members  is  the  duty 
of  society ;  to  avail  himself  of  the  opportunity  to  make  all  of  himself  that  he  can 
make  is  the  duty  of  every  individual."  (Knoll  Papers,  The  Outlook,  April  17,  1918, 
p.  616.) 

(4)  Education  by  action  and  affairs.  —  We  are  likely  to  overrate 
books  and  to  underrate  affairs  as  educational  forces.  At  the  Atlanta 
banquet  of  the  association  now  known  as  the  National  Society  for 
Vocational  Education,  President  Elmer  Ellsworth  Brown,  then  United 
States  Commissioner  of  Education,  at  first  gasp  took  his  audience 
by  surprise  when  he  declared : 

"  It  was  not  until  the  nineteenth  century  that  even  one-half  of  the  civilized  world 
had  been  to  school ;  that  anything  like  one-half  of  the  civilized  world  had  learned 
to  read  and  write  and  had  come  under  the  influence  of  the  school.  .  .  .  The  people 
of  the  world,  even  at  the  present  time,  have  barely  begun  to  go  to  school." 

And  yet  the  world  has  been  getting  on,  human  good  added  to  human 
good  by  gradual  degrees.  Your  David  Harum  may  not  be  long  on 
book  learning,  but  he  is  not  short  on  wit ;  the  deacon  cannot  beat 
him  twice  on  a  horse  trade.  Men  school  each  other.  Honesty  is 
found  to  be  the  best  policy.  Nature,  that  sometimes  kind,  sometimes 
stern  teacher,  schools  all.  Life  is  a  labyrinth  of  educational  forces. 
Vocational  education  relies  heavily  on  the  activities  and  actualities 
of  the  economic  world.  Its  task  is  to  select  or  to  arrange  courses  of 
training  that  shall  not  be  wanting  in  either  human  worth  or  educa- 
tional efficiency. 

In  short,  vocational  education  turns  as  much  to  action  and  affairs 
as  it  does  to  books  and  schoolrooms  for  its  teaching  materials  and 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


17 


methods.  And  in  this  it  does  not  concede  that  its  task  or  its  pupils 
are  inferior  to  those  of  any  other  branch  of  education.  Some  of  the 
brightest  boys  in  school  are  to  be  found  in  vocational  classes.  In 
training  boys  and  girls 

for  life,  there  is  no  proper  Growth  in  Numbers  of  Pupils 

place  for  snobbery.    Vo-  (Resident  and  Non-Resident) 

cational  training  is  not 
higher,  cultural  training 
is  not  lower,  as  such,  on 
the  ethical  and  human 
scale,  nor  vice  versa. 
They  are  different.  Each 
must  have  its  own  meth- 
ods, its  own  standards, 
and  its  own  rewards  of 
merit. 

For  a  few  years,  cen- 
tering about  igo8,  feel- 
ing in  Massachusetts,  as 
elsewhere,  ran  high  and 
there  was  extreme  bitter- 
ness of  statement.  In 
education,  no  less  than 
in  politics,  there  were 
the  stand-pat  and  the  in- 
surgent. To  those  who 
said  they  had  hitched 
their  wagon  to  the  star 
of  the  older  education, 
proponents  of  the  newer 
said,  in  effect :  "  Yes ! 
You  have  made  the  star 
hitch.  But  you  have 
forgotten  the  wagon  !  You  are  all  up  in  the  air  !  We  are  on  the  ground. 
We  know  what  we  are  doing  and  where  we  are  going. ' '  Old  school  men 
said  vocational  education,  if  not  a  device  of  the  devil  for  the  undoing 


D  U 


»  ^^^ 


19078 
1400 


1908-9 
2994 


I909J0 
3206 


1910-11 
4380 


I9IH2 
7164 


I9IM3    I9I3H4 


10,064    15.575 

Fig.  10.  —  Massachusetts  did  not  stampede  toward  vo- 
cational education.  From  15,575  in  I9i3-igi4  the 
enrollment  had  grown  in  1916-1917  to  23,073.  This 
and  four  following  statistical  charts  were  prepared  by 
Mr.  Chester  L.  Pepper,  .\gent  for  Industrial  Education 
of  the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Education,  for  the  Pan- 
ama Pacific  Exposition. 


Variation'  in  Enrollment  by  Types  of  Vocational  Schools 

Boys'  Day  Industrial   Schools 


TO" 

60 

EO 

40 

30 

20 

10 


10'^' 

60 

SO 

40 

30 

ZO 

K) 


10'^ 
60 
50 
40 
30' 
20 
10 


70" 
£0 
50 
«) 

20 
10 
0 


.^^ 

.^ 

^^ 

"-^.^ 

Evening  Industrial    Schools   For  Men 

/ 

/ 

L— ~— -, 

/ 

— " 

County    Agricullural    Schoo 

,„— -v^ 

-— ^ 

■     " 

-""■ 

^^ 

^v. 

..^ 

Agricultural  Departments  in  Hi^h  Schools 

"^^^ 

^^v^ 



__ 

' — _ 

l4tol5    l5tol6    l6tol7    l7tol8     l8to?l     2lto25    0ver25 

Fig.  II.  —  Another  self-explanatory  chart  prepared  for  the  Panama  Pacific  Exposition. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  boys  at  the  separate  and  county  schools  average  somewhat  older 
than  those  in  high  school  departments. 


i8 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION  19 

of  centuries  of  educational  progress,  was  at  best  another  device  for 
exploitation  of  employee  by  employer.  The  vocational  school  men 
declared  that  any  man  who  would  make  such  a  statement  as  the  latter 
was  a  "  public  enemy."  Thus  there  came  to  be  sharply  defined  ap- 
proval traditions  and  traditions  of  protest. 

Happily  all  such  bitterness  is  past.  There  are  now  two  deputy 
commissioners  of  education  in  Massachusetts,  one  for  vocational  edu- 
cation, the  other  for  non-vocational.  Both  serve  under  a  single 
commissioner  and  a  single  Board  of  Education,  who  are  equally  and 
impartially  responsible  for  the  utmost  development  of  all  phases  of 
education,  whether  for  the  deaf  or  the  hearing,  for  the  blind  or  the  see- 
ing, for  children  of  the  poor  or  children  of  the  well-to-do ;  whether  by 
schoolrooms  and  books,  or  by  action  and  affairs,  or  by  a  combination 
of  both ;  whether  for  one  or  for  another  useful  career. 

3.    Vocational  Agricultural  Education 

(i)  Definition  and  development. — Agricultural  education,  as  a 
phase  of  vocational  education,  has  recently  been  defined,  by  the  sub- 
committee on  agriculture  of  the  Commission  of  the  National  Educa- 
tion Association  on  the  Reorganization  of  Secondary  Education,  of 
which  the  author  is  a  member,  as  that  education  which  is  of  less 
than  college  grade,  which  is  designed  to  meet  the  needs  of  pupils 
over  fourteen  years  of  age  who  intend  to  follow  agricultural  pursuits, 
which  gives  the  skill  and  knowledge  necessary  to  the  control  of  plant 
and  animal  production,  to  the  end  of  economic  profit,  and  which  is 
so  articulated  with  other  education  as  to  promote  the  most  desirable 
farm  community  life. 

Such  a  definition  is  in  keeping  with  the  requirements  of  the  Smith- 
Hughes  Act,^  which  provides  federal  aid  for  the  promotion  of  voca- 
tional education,  namely,  "  that  the  controlling  purpose  of  such  edu- 
cation shall  be  to  fit  for  useful  employment ;  that  such  education  shall 
be  of  less  than  college  grade  and  be  designed  to  meet  the  needs  of 
persons  over  fourteen  years  of  age  who  have  entered  upon  or  who  are 
preparing  to  enter  upon  the  work  of  the  farm  .  .  . ;  "  and  that  the 

*  Section  10  of  the  .\ct  (S.  703)  passed  by  the  Sixty-fourth  Congress  and  approved 
February  23,  1917. 


20 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


Percentage  of  Attendance  by  Types  of 
Schools 


PERCENTAGE  ATTENDANCE 


5' 


rn: 


school  giving  such  education  "  shall  provide  for  directed  or  supervised 
practice  in  agriculture,  either  on  a  farm  provided  for  by  the  school 
or  other  farm,  for  at  least  six  months  per  year." 

Such  a  definition  is  consistent,  also,  with  that  found  in  the  Massa- 
chusetts law,^  which  reads,  "  f  Agricultural  Education'  shall  mean 

that  form  of  vocational 
education  which  fits  for 
the  occupations  connected 
with  the  tillage  of  the  soil, 
the  care  of  domestic  ani- 
mals, forestry,  and  other 
wage-earning  or  produc- 
tive work  on  the  farm." 

Vocational  agricultural 
education,  in  short,  is  one 
phase  of  effort  to  conserve 
the  valuable  years  of 
youth  for  the  best  uses  of 
both  society  and  the  in- 
dividual. 

There  has  been  a  general 
movement  throughout  the 
country  for  agricultural 
education  of  secondary 
grade.  Even  five  years 
ago  there  probably  were 
not  fewer  than  five  hun- 
dred secondary  schools  in 
which  agriculture  was  seri- 
ously taught.  More  than 
five  times  that  number  now  Hst  agriculture  among  their  courses.  The 
training  varies  from  the  study  of  an  agricultural  textbook  in  the  hands 
of  the  general  teacher  who  does  not  bring  to  her  task  any  special  train- 
ing, to  the  out-and-out  vocational  school  which  employs  men  who  are 
specialists  in  agriculture.  Various  territorial  and  political  units  for 
1  Chapter  471  of  the  Acts  of  191 1,  Section  i. 


TVP£  Of  School 


Boys'  Day 


Cirls'Oay 


Evening    Mens 


Evening    Womfrft 


Home  Mak.  Day 


Home  Mak.  Ev 


Continuation 


County  Agric 


T~[~l 


I    I    I    I    I 


Agric.   Dept 
n  HijhScfaonis 

Fig.  12.  —  In  spite  of  residence  at  home  and  the  press- 
ure of  farm  work  at  certain  seasons,  the  attendance 
of  agricultural  pupils  compares  favorably  with 
that  of  other  pupils  in  vocational  schools.  Chart 
prepared  for  Panama  Pacific  Exposition. 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


21 


Pekcentage    of    Withdrawals    Based    on 
Total  Entjollment  in  Different  Schools 

TVee  Of  School         Number  Withdrawab  in  Every  Hundred  gvoHed 

O  lO  lo  >«  *9  9f  V 


Boys' Day 


I         I         I 


I  I  I      I 


I  I         I 


the  development  of  agricultural  schools  of  outstandingly  vocational 
type  have  been  adopted. 

A.  Agricultural  schools  at  colleges  of  agriculture.  —  In  some  states 
a  single  school,  located  at  the  State  Agricultural  College,  sufficed  a 
number  of  years  for  the  entire  state.  The  first,  and  still  perhaps  the 
strongest,  school  of  this  kind  was  the  School  of  Agriculture  at  St. 
Anthony  Park,  Minne- 
sota. These  schools 
have  not  been  prepar- 
atory departments  to 
the  colleges  so  much  as 
they  have  been  special 
finishing  schools  for 
those  who  did  not  de- 
sire an  agricultural  col- 
lege degree  course,  but 
desired  the  directest 
and  most  competent 
possible  training  for 
practical  farming  that 
could  be  had  in  a  course 
of  two  to  three,  and,  in 
some  cases,  four  years, 
following  such  prelim- 
inary preparation  as 
that  afforded  by  the 
common  schools  of  the 
rural  districts. 

While  the  demands 
for  vocational  agricul- 
tural training  were  sufficiently  limited  so  that  a  single  school  could  do 
the  work  required,  it  was  highly  advantageous  that  the  school  should  be 
located  at  the  State  Agricultural  College.  DupHcation  of  expenditures 
for  land,  buildings,  and  equipment  could  thus  be  avoided.  The  stu- 
dents might  be  trained  in  part  by  assistants ;  but,  first  or  last,  became 
acquainted  with,  and  felt  at  first  hand  the  influence  of,  the  best  special- 


Oirls  Day 


Evening  Men's 


Ev  Industrial 
Women 


Home  Mak-  Day 


HomeMak  Ev. 


Continuation 


D 


I      I      I 


iiinc.  Schools 
°  County 

A^ric  Depts         I 1 1 

in  High  Schools    I ^-1 ' 

Fig.  13.  —  The  percentage  of  withdrawals  is  strikingly- 
favorable  to  agricultural  pupils ;  and,  it  will  be  noticed, 
there  are  e%'en  fewer  withdrawals  from  departments 
than  from  separate  or  county  schools. 


22 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


ists  in  the  state  in  agricultural  research  and  education.  The  agricul- 
tural college  teaching  staffs  generally  were  the  staffs  of  the  schools,  and 
sometimes  adapted  their  instruction  to  the  needs  of  their  school  pupils, 

as    distinguished    from 


Percentage    of   WixmjRAWALS    Placed   in 

Industry  for  Which  They  Received 

Training 

Number  Out  of  Every  Hundred  Wiltidwols  Placed  in  Industry 

•  K>  z»  X  *o  ia  to 

\ — nza 


Typeof  Schcol 
Boys'  Day 


Giris'  Day       |  | 

Evening  Men's     AW  in  Industry 


Evening  Women's    All  in  Industry 


floinejviaK  Day 


HomeMak.Ev       All  in  Industry 


Continuation  All  in  Industry 


County 
Agric  Schools 


I  I  I 


I      r 


I      r 


Agric.  Dept        i 

In  High  Schools       I 

Fig.  14.  —  Again  strikingly  favorable  to  agricultural 
training  is  the  percentage  of  withdrawals  placed  in  the 
occupation  for  which  education  had  been  sought.  Care 
in  canvassing  the  aptitudes  and  aims  of  applicants 
is  amply  repaid.  Perhaps  greater  care  is  possible  in 
the  cases  of  agricultural  applicants  than  in  the  cases 

.  of  other  applicants,  because  of  the  requirement  that 
facilities  for  home  projects,  or  approved  substitutes, 
must  be  provided  for  prior  to  admission. 


the  needs  of  their  stu- 
dents of  college  grade. 
Certainly  schools  so  lo- 
cated have  stood  high  in 
the  estimation  of  the 
people.  President  Nor- 
thrup  once  said  that 
there  were  people  in 
Minnesota  —  not  a  few 
—  in  whose  minds  the 
School  of  Agriculture 
stood  for  the  whole  Uni- 
versity. 

B.  Separate  agricul- 
tural schools.  —  In  cer- 
tain states.  New  York 
and  Massachusetts 
among  the  number,  it 
has  been  considered  in- 
advisable to  maintain 
vocational  agricultural 
schools  on  the  premises 
of,  and  in  immediate 
connection  with,  the 
State  Colleges  of  Agri- 
culture. In  these  eases 
the    resources    of     the 


schools  are  more  or  less 
limited.  The  courses  vary  greatly  in  length  and  character.  Some 
differ  but  slightly  from  the  State  Agricultural  Colleges  of  earlier  days. 
Others  maintain  two-year  courses  of  six  or  eight  months  each,  from 
which  have  been  omitted  such  subjects  as  algebra,  geometry,  and  all 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION  23 

instruction  in  languages  except  English.  Some  utilize  a  limited 
amount  of  land  for  demonstration  purposes.  Others  provide  for  more 
or  less  practical  farm  work  on  the  school  farms.  In  fact,  these  schools 
have  proved  to  be  most  interesting  and  valuable  experiment  stations 
in  methods  of  vocational  agricultural  education.  Perhaps  it  is  not 
too  much  to  say  that  out  of  the  very  "  weakness  "  of  some  of  these 
schools  in  land  and  equipment  has  come  the  best  strength  of  the 
whole  movement  for  a  type  of  agricultural  training  which  shall  be 
genuinely  vocational.  That  is  to  say,  vocational  efficiency  at  the 
end  of  the  course  of  training  appears  to  bear  no  directly  propor- 
tionate relation  to  the  comparative  amounts  of  money  invested  in 
the  school  plants  and  in  their  cost  of  operation;  and,  similarly, 
it  appears  to  depend  more  on  points  of  view  and  on  methods 
among  the  various  staffs,  than  upon  relative  faculty  numbers  and 
salary  budgets. 

Among  the  most  interesting,  from  a  thoroughgoing  vocational 
point  of  view,  are  the  congressional  district  agricultural  schools  in 
Georgia.  The  place  of  these  schools  in  the  state  system  of  educa- 
tion is  clearly  indicated  by  the  following  excerpt  from  one  of  the 
early  general  announcements.^  "  If  the  students  wish  a  classical 
education  or  a  purely  literary  education,  they  should  go  elsewhere. 
If  they  want  a  common  school  education,  this  is  not  the  place  for 
them.  If  a  boy  wants  vocational  training  for  a  life  on  the  farm, 
together  with  a  good  high  school  training  in  English,  mathematics, 
history  and  the  sciences,  here  is  the  school  designed  for  him." 

For  girls  in  these  schools  there  are  provided  "  a  good  Hterary  and 
scientific  high  school  education,  training  in  the  domestic  arts  and 
sciences,"  also  training  for  teaching. 

The  United  States  Bureau  of  Education  2  has  classified  these  in- 
stitutions as  "  special  "  schools.  Thus  it  sharply  distinguishes  them 
as  vocational,  from  other  so-called  agricultural  schools  which  do  not 
make  definite  provision  for  practice  in  farming  operations,  which  do 
not  require  all  students  to  spend  at  least  one-fourth  of  the  entire  time 
on  agriculture  (or  home  economics  in  the  case  of  girls),  which  are  not 

>  Bulletin  of  Georgia  State  College  of  Agriculture,  July,  1914,  p.  16. 
2  Bulletin  No.  513,  p.  14. 


24 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


distinctively  of  secondary  grade  and  which,  in  some  cases,  require 
students  to  take  higher  mathematics  and  foreign  languages. 

From  evidence  of  visitors  and  reports  of  work  done,  it  appears  that 
these  schools  in  Georgia  are  not  college  preparatory  schools  in  any 
ordinary  sense  of  the  term,  and  that  they  will  well  warrant  the  high 
hopes  inspired  by  their  practical  plans.     With  adequate  laboratory 


Fig.   15.  —  Some  schools  have  land  and  tools  for  tillage.     Note  three  kinds  of  harrows, 
manure  spreader,  and  sulky  plow.     Smith's  Agricultural  School,  Northampton. 


facilities,  at  first  lacking,  and  with  proper  correlation  of  classroom  and 
farm  instruction,  they  should  afford  vocational  agricultural  education 
of  a  very  high  order. 

C.  Agricultural  departments  in  high  schools.  —  Since  the  origina- 
tion of  the  "  Home  Project  "  plan  in  Massachusetts,  and  its  early 
adoption  in  somewhat  modified  forms  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
and  Indiana,  vocational  agricultural  departments  in  high  schools  have 
been  more  and  more  widely  provided  for  throughout  the  country. 
Following  are  some  of  the  considerations  favorable  to  such  depart- 
ments. 

a.  Fifty  departments  for  the  cost  of  ten  schools.  —  The  cost  of 
establishing  a  vocational  agricultural  department  in  a  regular  high 
school  is  comparatively  slight,  —  not  a  tithe  of  the  cost  of  construct- 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


25 


ing  and  equipping  an  independent  agricultural  school.  Fully  fifty 
departments  can  be  maintained  for  what  it  would  cost  to  maintain 
five  large,  well-equipped,  and  effective  agricultural  schools.  The  pro- 
vision of  agricultural  departments  strongly  commends  itself,  there- 
fore, on  the  grounds  of  economy. 

b.    Departments   should  reach  the  greatest  number.  —  An  agri- 


FiG.  i6.  — "Related  study"  recitation  and  demonstration  room.  Seats  io8.  Mothers' 
meetings  held  here.  Seats  comfortable  for  men  and  women.  Note  folding  tablet  arms. 
Few  mixed  classes.  As  a  rule,  separate  classes  for  home-making  and  agriculture. 
Here  a  discussion  of  common  interest.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 

cultural  department  close  at  hand,  which  permits  the  boy  to  live  at 
home  and  help  with  the  farm  work  morning  and  night  and  on  Satur- 
days, appeals  to  parents  in  modest  circumstances.  Practically  all 
parents,  however  well-to-do  or  however  needy  they  may  be,  are  rightly 
reluctant  to  have  their  children  leave  home  at  fourteen,  or  even  at 
sixteen  or  seventeen  years  of  age. 

Many  agricultural  departments  widely  distributed  through  a  state 
should  induce  the  attendance  of  the  largest  number  of  pupils,  and  thus 
provide  a  system  of  agricultural  education  suited  to  the  needs  of  the 
greatest  number  of  farm  homes. 

c.  An  elastic  service  system.  —  If  the  tide  of  interest  turns  strongly 
towards  non-agricultural  courses  and  careers,  or  if  for  any  other  social, 


26 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


psychological,  or  practical  reason  the  number,  for  the  moment,  who 
desire  agricultural  training  becomes  too  small  to  warrant  maintenance 
of  a  specialist  in  agriculture,  the  instructor,  together  with  state  and 
federal  aid,  may  be  transferred  elsewhere.  Meantime,  there  is  httle 
or  no  expensive  equipment  to  he  idle  or  to  deteriorate.  ^  The  service 
can  ba  renewed  when  interest  and  numbers  justify  it. 

d._  Departments  demonstrate.  —  Surrounded  by  farms,  vocational 
agricultural  departments  in  high  schools  at  once  enlist  the  motor 


Fig.  17.  —  Bit  of  drill  in  exact  obser\-ation,  use  of  metric  system,  etc.  Good  type  of 
laboratory  table  for  agricultural  physics.  Substantial  and  steady.  Acid-proof  top. 
Gas  and  water  on  benches  along  two  sides  of  room.  Concrete  floor.  High  basement. 
Abundant  window  space  and  excellent  light.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 


instincts  and  activities  of  the  boys  from  these  farms  in  carrying  out 
simultaneously  with  their  school  instruction  and  as  vital  parts  of  it, 
practical  farming  projects  on  their  own  premises. 

The  best  methods  are  told  and  shown.  And  most  boys,  as  well  as 
most  men,  in  agriculture  as  in  all  other  productive  pursuits,  make 
their  best  progress  by  being  told  and  shown,  man  to  man,  what  to  do, 
and  why  and  when  and  how  to  do  it. 

e.  Open  doors  of  opportunity.  —  Mr.  D.  J.  Crosby,  when  specialist 
in  agricultural  education  of  the  Office  of  Experiment  Stations,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  said  that  he  hoped  to  see  secondary  agricultural  educa- 
tion throughout  the  country  "  Open  at  both  ends,  —  open  at  the 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


27 


beginning,  so  that  the  farm  boy  could  enter ;  and  open  at  the  end,  so 
that  those  farm  boys  who  desired  to  go  on  to  higher  agricultural 
training  should  be  able  to  do  so." 

Agricultural  departments  may  admit  any  farm  boy  who  has  reached 
his  fourteenth  birthday,  without  regard  to  whether  or  not  he  can  pass 
entrance  examinations  for  admission  to  high  school,  provided  he  can 
demonstrate  his  abiHty  to  profit  from  the  agricultural  instruction 
offered.  This  opens  the  door  to  the  boy  who  may  not  be  "  bookish," 
but  who  may  be  capable  of  making  excellent  progress  in  appHed  science 
as  worked  out  by  the  home  project  method. 

Fuller  opportunity,  at  the  same  time,  may  be  afforded  the  boy  who 
is  both  "  bookish  "  and  "  practical,"  to  advance  in  both  agricultural 


Fig.  18.  —  Household  and  stable  hygiene  and  sanitation  laboratorj'-  Balances.  Micro- 
scopes. Sinks.  Gas  and  water  connections.  Babcock  tester.  Steam  sterilizer.  Ovens. 
Beakers.     Filters.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 

and  academic  training.  If  a  boy  training  for  farming  valued  gradua- 
tion from  a  strongly  cultural  course,  one  that  perhaps  even  included 
Latin  or  Greek,  and  if  he  were  able  to  cover  the  ground  required  for 
such  graduation  without  detriment  to  the  vocational  training  in  his 
agricultural  course,  he,  too,  should  find  wide  open  before  him  a  door 
of  opportunity  commensurate  with  his  ambition  and  his  natural  powers. 
More  and  more,  agricultural  science  is  bound  to  be  recognized  in 
units  of  credit  for  meeting  college  entrance  requirements ;  certainly, 
for  meeting  the  requirements  for  admission  to  colleges  of  agriculture. 


28 


VOCATION.\L  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


It  must  be  evident,  in  short,  that  agricultural  departments  in  high 
schools  throw  open  to  boys  from  the  farms  not  limited  opportunities 
only,  but  opportunities  for  the  most  advanced  agricultural  education 
of  which  they  may  be  capable  and  to  which  they  may  aspire.  The 
fact  that  firm  footing  for  their  feet  is  found  at  the  outset  through  the 
immediate  application  of  their  science  instruction  in  their  home  farm 
projects  should  certainly  be  no  detriment. 

f .  Avoidance  of  undue  delay.  —  The  establishment  of  agricultural 
departments  in  existing  high  schools  cannot  be  accompUshed  over- 
night.    Their  success  depends  upon  picked  men  for  teachers ;    and 


■■Mli 

— ^ — r- 

1  ^     ■ m       ■ 

■ 

1  i  fi'     %. 

W^^*l^mM.^^j^M 

1^^ 

1  •  -Vi  ** 

Ilk.     UK.  .. 

mammm'um 

■rKi^VnBif^i^^i^^^HBaKL   S 

m 

-* 

( 

Fig.  iq.  —  Farm  and  home  chemistry  studies  that  never  will  be  forgotten.  Earthen- 
ware sinks,  with  straight  lead-pipes  emptying  into  graded  gutters  in  concrete  floor. 
Only  one  trap  —  that  at  connection  of  graded  gutters  with  sewer.  Pine-top  benches, 
with  black,  acid-proof  finish.  Half-inch,  rounded  bead  at  edges  and  ends  of  benches 
to  keep  glass-ware  from  rolling  off.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 

the  selection  of  such  men,  or  their  training,  requires  time  and  atten- 
tion. Some  time  is  required,  also,  to  enable  the  local  committee  in 
consultation  with  the  state  authorities  to  outline  the  course  of  train- 
ing best  suited  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  farm  boys  in  any  given  local- 
ity. Certain  special  agricultural  classroom  facilities  and  equipment 
require  some  time  for  preparation. 

But  the  time  necessary  for  the  establishment  of  such  departments  is 
comparatively  brief.     In  one,  two,  or  three  years  it  should  be  possible 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


29 


in  any  agricultural  state  to  have  a  reasonable  number  of  such  depart- 
ments actively  at  work,  and  reaching  most  of  the  farm  boys  in  that 
state  who  need  this  form  of  agricultural  education. 

g.  High  school  strengthened.  —  Such  departments  strongly  com- 
mend themselves  in  localities  where  farm  labor  is  short,  and  where 
school  consolidation  and  the  development  of  strong  local  high  schools 
are  in  progress.  That  they  can  be  made  to  give  vocational  agricul- 
tural education,  real  and  highly  efficient,  it  is  part  of  the  purpose  of  this 
book  to  show. 

(2)  A  square  deal  in  vocational  education.  A.  General  schooling 
not  enough.  —  Even  in  Massachusetts,  where  the  school-going  habit 


Fig.  20.  Farm  shop  work.  Wagon  repairing,  saw  filing  and  other  tool  sharpening, 
thread  cutting  and  pipe  fitting,  drilling,  soldering,  harness  mending  and  rope  splicing. 
Partitions  and  part  of  upper  floor  of  old  house  taken  out  and  shop  fitted  up  by  pupils. 
Replaced  later  by  model  shop,  including  drawing  room  and  room  for  painting  and  var- 
nishing, in  new  building  40'  X  80'.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 

has  been  developed  among  the  people  at  large  to  at  least  as  favorable 
proportions  as  in  most  parts  of  the  world,  school  instruction  has  had 
almost  no  direct  bearing  on  the  probable  life  work  of  a  great  number 
of  boys  and  giris ;  and  until  recently  it  has  yielded  practically  no 
knowledge  or  skill  to  those  boys  whose  severest  need  is  education  for 
efficiency  in  the  work  and  affairs  of  modern  farming. 

B.    Books  and  bulletins  not  enough.  —  How  many  of  the  rank  and 
file  of  busy  farmers  have  had  the  time,  the  opportunity,  or  the  inclina- 


30  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

tion  to  learn  even  the  alphabet  of  agricultural  science,  —  that  difficult 
alphabet,  in  which  the  most  valuable  bulletins  and  treatises  on  modern 
agriculture  are  written?  The  higher  the  aspirations  of  the  men  of 
agricultural  knowledge,  and  the  more  conimendable  their  accomplish- 
ments in  the  conquest  of  agricultural  science,  the  more  difficult  of 
comprehension  do  their  pubHshed  works  become  in  the  hands  of  the 
man  hard  pressed  by  the  daily  affairs  of  farming. 

The  need  of  the  hour  is  the  need  of  the  teacher  who  can  simpHfy 
language,  and  help  the  boys  who  are  to  be  farmers  in  a  given  town  or 
district  to  understand  the  practical  bearings  of  the  best  research  in 
agriculture  on  their  problems ;  and  who  can  show  the  boys,  on  their 
own  farms  and  in  laboratory  and  other  demonstrations,  the  best 
methods  which  are  applicable  to  local  conditions. 

C.  The  farm  not  enough.  —  It  has  been  said  that  ''  The  worst 
thing  about  farming  in  Xew  England  is  that  almost  any  kind  of  farmer 
can  get  a  hving  on  almost  any  kind  of  farm."  Productive  farming, 
in  New  England  or,  anywhere  else,  properly  speaking,  is  not  eking 
out  from  the  land  the  nakedest  necessities  of  life.  Productive  farm- 
ing, moreover,  is  farming  for  the  community,  not  merely  for  the 
individual ;  it  is  economic  farming,  and  as  such  contemplates  profit 
in  proportion  to  the  service  it  renders  the  community,  —  in  propor- 
tion to  the  quantity  and  the  quality  of  the  commodities  put  upon  the 
market.  Such  farming  demands  the  highest  operative  skill,  the  keen- 
est scientific  insight,  and  the  broadest  outlook  over  the  wants  and  the 
welfare  of  the  community.  jMany  men  on  farms  to-day  are  doing 
exactly  this  kind  of  productive  farming.  They  have  built  up  their 
ability  through  hard  years  of  experience.  They  would  be  good  school- 
masters for  their  sons  in  this  skilful  work,  this  scientific  insight,  and 
this  breadth  of  outlook. 

But,  just  as  the  lawyer  who  must  practice  law  is  generally  unwilling 
to  teach  it,  so  the  productive  farmer,  who  must  meet  the  pressing  de- 
mands of  economic  agricultural  operations,  and  who  in  most  cases 
must  be  at  once  the  skilled  operative,  the  scientific  observer,  and  the 
capable  business  manager,  cannot  stop  to  teach  his  boy  the  many 
things  he  ought  to  be  taught  in  the  years  following  his  fourteenth 
birthday.     If  this  is  true  of  the  farmer  of  exceptional  ability,  it  is 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTUR.AL   EDUCATION 


31 


even  more  evident  among  farmers  in  general.  Each,  in  any  event, 
would  be  without  certain  laboratory  facilities  necessary  to  a  proper 
study  and  comprehension  of  the  ch£8H€al,  phiisical,  and  biological 
facts  and  principles  which  underlie  the  best  farm  practice. 

D.  Conclusion.  —  That  there  is  a  decided  lack  of,  and  demand  for, 
agricultural  training  of  a  scientific  and  very  practical  character,  suited 
to  the  needs  of  boys,  and  of  some  girls,  over  fourteen  years  of  age,  who 


Fig.  21.  —  Forge  shop.  Note  portable  forges  such  as  some  of  farm  boys  have  at  home. 
One  blacksmith's  forge,  with  electric  blower.  Wagon  ironing,  drill  sharpening,  chain 
repairing,  etc.,  taught  agricultural  course  boys.   .  Smith  School,  Northampton. 

expect  to  hve  on,  and  gain  their  livehhood  from,  farms,  there  can  be 
no  doubt.  The  needjs  but  the  more  accentuated  bv  the  growinor  in- 
dustrial  and  commercial  schools  open  to  boys  and  girls  fourteen  years 
of  age  and  older,  which,  with  their  novelty  and  attractive  equipment, 
tend  to  lure  away  from  the  land  and  into  congested  centers,  in  the 
absence  of  attractive  and  competent  agricultural  education,  many 
young  people  whose  natural  tastes  and  aptitudes  would  make  them,  if 
properly  trained,  better,  happier,  and  more  prosperous  citizens  in  the 
open  country. 


CHAPTER   II 

HOME-PROJECT  SCHOOL   OR  DEPARTMENT   VERSUS  SELF- 
CONTAINED   SCHOOL 

Productive  work  of  a  high  order  of  efficiency  is  coming  to  be  con- 
sidered a  vital  test  of  all  systems  of  vocational  education  of  secondary 
grade.  Moreover,  in  vocational  agricultural  education,  it  is  coming 
to  be  accepted  that  the  training  must  be  such  as  to  develop  both  skill 
and  managerial  ability.  The  competent  farmer  must  be  not  only 
expert  in  the  varied  technique  of  his  calling,  but  also  a  sound  and 
progressive  business  manager. 

I.   Spectator  versus  Participant 

Neither  skill  nor  business  ability  can  be  learned  from  books  alone, 
nor  merely  from  observation  of  the  work  and  management  of  others. 
Both  require  active  participation,  during  the  learning  period,  in  pro- 
ductive farming  operations  of  real  economic  or  commercial  impor- 
tance. 

In  general,  if  there  is  a  defect  in  the  large  agricultural  schools, 
which  boys  must  leave  home  in  large  numbers  to  attend,  and  which, 
in  order  to  secure  attendance  adequate  to  justify  their  cost,  must 
apparently  limit  their  training  to  six  or  eight  fall  and  winter  months, 
it  is  the  defect  of  putting  too  great  reliance  upon  books  and  observa- 
tion, to  the  exclusion  during  the  intensive  learning  periods  of  active 
participation  in  the  type  or  types  of  productive  farming  the  boys 
intend  to  follow  after  graduation.  Too  great,  in  the  cases  of  many 
of  the  boys  fatal,  reliance  is  put  on  the  ability  of  the  pupils  once  well 
grounded  in  sound  theory  at  the  school  to  put  that  theory  into  suc- 
cessful practice  on  their  own  farms,  alone  and  unaided. 

Even  if  the  large  school  undertook  to  put  its  plant  and  equipment 
to  the  strictest  productive  farming  uses  of  a  profitable  commercial 
character,  and  to  induct  its  pupils  into  its  aims  and  to  school  them  in 

32 


HOME-PROJECT    VERSUS  SELF-CONTAINED   SCHOOL  33 

its  methods,  its  efforts  would  be  more  than  Hkely  to  break  down 
through  sheer  weight  of  numbers.  The  fifty-man  farm  is  rare,  the 
fifty-boy  school  is  not. 

School  farms  at  present  can  hardly  claim  to  be  thoroughgoing 
commercial  farming  concerns.  The  most  flattering  school  photo- 
graphs, where  the  aims  of  the  school  are  most  emphatically  practical, 
show  by  far  too  few  participants  and  by  far  too  many  spectators.  To 
see  a  thing  done,  however  good  the  demonstration,  is  not  to  do  it  one- 
self.    To  participate  in  carrying  out  an  enterprise  planned  and  ordered 


Fig.  22.  —  Boys  taught  how  to  make  concrete  floors,  walks,  posts,  mangers,  etc.  Real  jobs, 
not  mere  exercises,  for  group,  no  less  than  for  individual,  instruction.  Permanent  im- 
provements, needed  by  a  school  or  elsewhere  in  the  neighborhood,  provide  such  jobs. 
Smith  School,  Northampton. 

by  another  — by  even  an  agricultural  instructor  —  may  leave  one 
little  better  than  a  gang  laborer.  The  pittance  paid  per  hour,  where 
any  pay  at  all  is  given,  can  hardly  be  considered  comparable,  as  an 
incentive  to  keen  interest  and  alert  action,  to  the  reward  the  pupil 
might  hope  to  realize  from  an  independent  enterprise  planned  and 
executed  by  himself  and  wholly  for  his  own  profit  or  that  of  his 
family. 

It  must  be  feared  that  however  excellent  may  be  its  work  in  selected 
demonstrations  and  other  operations,  school  farming,  from  a  strictly 
commercial  point  of  view,  must  always  remain  more  or  less  artificial. 
Perhaps  the  best  use  to  which  an  agricultural  school,  large  or  small, 


34 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


can  put  its  own  land  and  equipment  is  that  of  illustrative  operations. 
Some  schools,  notably  the  Northwest  School  of  Agriculture  and  Branch 
Experiment  Station,  Crookston,  Minnesota,  have  adopted  this  view. 
It  is  not  clear,  however,  that  any  considerable  ^umber  have  adopted 


Pig.  23.  —  Boys  plan  in  advance  their  farm  repair  and  construction  woric.  Note  drawing 
benches.  Home  made,  cheap,  light,  rigid.  Good  drawing  boards  and  instruments. 
Smith  School,  Northampton. 

methods  of  training  calculated  to  overcome  the  defects  of  dormitory, 
or  self-contained,  institutions  as  agencies  for  graduating  young  men 
well  proved  in  the  practice,  as  well  as  in  the  theory,  of  productive 
farming. 

Most  of  the  schools  are  far  from  confining  their  activities  to  their 
own  premises  and  regular  school  classes.  What  may  be  done  supple- 
mentary to  the  usual  school  work  was  early  and  admirably  set  forth 
by  Messrs.  D.  J.  Crosby  and  B.  H.  Crockeron  in  Separate  No.  527 
from  the  Year  Book  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 
for  1910,  under  the  title  "  Community  Work  in  Rural  High  Schools.^' 
But  community  work,  as  such,  is  directly  planned  for  those,  princi- 
pally adults,  who  are  not  in  school. 


HOME-PROJECT    VERSUS  SELF-CONTAINED   SCHOOL         35 

2.    The  Fundamental  Problem 

The  problem,  then,  of  providing  for  actual  participation,  both  as 
manager,  on  at  least  a  moderate  scale,  and  as  worker,  in  productive 
farming,  simultaneously  with  his  classroom  instruction,  by  the  boy 
in  the  vocational  agricultural  school  or  department,  may  fairly  be 
looked  upon  as  of  fundamental  importance.     How  shall  it  be  solved? 

Agricultural  schools  prior  to  1908,  like  agricultural  colleges,  had 
been  self-contained.  The  instructors  had  no  first-hand  knowledge  of 
the  home-farm  conditions  of  those  admitted  to  their  classes.     Thev 


Fig.  24.  —  Agricultural  school  should  have  home-making  department.  Real  jobs  needed 
as  basis  of  instruction  for  girls  as  well  as'  for  boys.  Providing  school  luncheon,  sub- 
stantial, tempting,  cheap,  is  such  a  job.  Photograph  shows  lunchroom  where  noon  meal 
is  provided  daily  at  cost.  Dishwashing  and  scrubbing  paid  for  by  the  hour.  Other  serv- 
ice part  of  class  work.     Lunchroom  self-supporting.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 

taught,  marked,  and  graduated.  All  conditions  for  graduation 
were  met  on  their  own  premises.  There  was  no  follow-up  sys- 
tem after  graduation  by  which  individual  pupils  -were  assisted 
in  applying  their  training  in  productive  farming.  There  might  be 
some  sort  of  placement  office  through  which  jobs  might  be  secured 
and  in  which  records  of  success  might  be  kept.  But,  for  the  rest,  as 
a  rule,  as  with  law  school  and  most  other  professional  school  grad- 
uates, winning  success  was  a  sheer  process  of  individual  struggle  and 
survival  of  the  fit. 

The  author  had  served  such  an  institution  for  eleven  years ;   and, 


36 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


more  and  more,  had  become  convinced  that  a  radically  different 
system  was  more  to  be  desired  for  boys  of  high  school  age,  and  could 
be  developed.  When  appointed  director  of  the  first  vocational  agri- 
cultural school  in  Massachusetts,  he  undertook  to  develop  at  a  school 
which  had  land,  live-stock,  and  farming  equipment,  a  plan  of  teaching 
agriculture  which  would  be  efficient  at  a  school  which  had  neither 
land  nor  live-stock.     There  was  to  be  no  dormitory,  and  there  never 


Fig    2,  -Here  and  in  model  home  kitchen  adjacent,  school  lunches  are  prepared  and 
principles  and  methods  of  cooking,  canning,  drying,  and  dietaries  are  taught      Lef 
folding  doors  lead  to  model  dining-room,  those  at  right  lead  to  room  used  part  of  year 
for  model  chamber.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 

since  has  been  a  dormitory  in  the  Massachusetts  state-aided  system. 
The  home  farms  of  boys  living  at  home,  and  farms  on  which  other 
boys  were  found  employment  in  the  vicinity  of  the  school,  were  to 
be  utilized  for  productive  farm  work  by  the  boys  admitted  to  the 
school ;  and  such  farms  have  continued  to  be  the  principal  reliance 
for  such  work  in  the  Massachusetts  system.  To  accentuate  such  re- 
hance,  the  trustees  of  the  school  authorized  the  sale  of  the  school  herd 
of  cows,  in  order  that  from  the  first  moment  to  the  last  of  their  agri- 
cultural school  training  the  boys  and  their  instructors  should  study, 


HOME-PROJECT    VERSUS  SELF-CONTAINED   SCHOOL  37 

and  pit  their  powers  against,  the  real  problems  found  on  the  privately 
owned  property  of  dairy  farmers. 

The  plan  of  this  first  school,  the  Smith's  Agricultural  School  at 
Northampton,  was  published  in  1908  in  its  first  booklet  as  follows: 
"  Preparation  for  certain  kinds  of  work  will  be  the  primary  aim  of 
this  new  school.     It  will  provide  training  in  agriculture  with  a  view 


f 

&    : 

ih 

)_ 

.■-'-  \^  '■-' 

i 

1L1 

Fig.  20.  -  Model  dinmg-room.  Table  service  is  taught.  Each  girl  serves  in  turn  as  cook 
maid,  hostess,  host,  and  guest.  Walls  have  since  been  tinted,  and  rugs  woven  for  floor' 
by  girls  in  household  art  classes.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 

to  practical  and  profitable  farming.  .  .  .  Every  effort  will  be  made  to 
relate  the  training  of  the  school  intimately  and  at  once  to  practical 
affairs  off  the  school  premises.  .  .  .  Pupils  preparing  for  farming 
will  best  serve  their  own  ends  and  the  ends  of  the  school  by  living  at 
home.  While  the  freshman  is  studying  the  elements  of  soils  and  plant 
life,  he  will  have  plots  of  ground  at  home,  preferably  parts  of  the 


38  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

kitchen  and  flower  gardens,  where  he  will  apply  the  .  .  .  methods  " 
taught  by  the  school  "  on  soil  he  may  some  day  own.     There  his 
methods  may  be  compared  with  his  father's,  and  those  of  his  neigh- 
bors     He  will  be  keen  to  learn  from  them,  perhaps  his  people  may 
now  and  then  learn  something  from  him.     In  the  sophomore  year 
there  will  be  like  training  in  handling  the  smaller  animals  of  the  farm, 
the  sheep,  or  swine,  or  poultry,  or  bees ;  in  the  junior  year,  in  connec- 
tion with  fruit  growing  and  market  gardening  ;  and  in  the  semor  year, 
in  handling  the  larger  farm  animals,  including  dairy  cattle.     Every 
farm  represented  by  a  pupil  will  thus  become  an  essential  part  of 
the  working  outfit  of  the  school.     There  will  be  no  sundering  of  the 
ties  of  home  when  school  ties  are  formed;    on  the  contrary,  a  good 
home  farm  should  become  dearer  to  the  boy's  heart,  more  enjoyable 
and  more  profitable  every  day.     Each  farm  will  contribute  of  its  best 
to  the  training  of  the  school ;   it  is  hoped  that  the  school  will  prove 
to  be  a  help  to  every  farm  from  which  a  pupil  is  sent."     The  boys 
were  supervised  throughout  the  producing  season  by  members  of  the 
school  staff  who  called  at  their  homes. 

Thus  began  what  has  been  known,  since  the  report  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Board  of  Education  on  "  Agricultural  Education  "  published 
in  191 1  in  which  the  present  state-aided  system  was  proposed  and 
wHich  the  author  assisted  in  preparing,  as  the  "Home-Project" 
plan  In  this  plan  has  been  found  a  satisfactory  solution  of  the 
fundamental  problem  stated  in  the  first  paragraph  of  this  section 
—  the  problem  of  providing,  every  year,  in  every  agricultural 
school  and  department,  in  the  case  of  every  pupil,  for  participation 
in  productive  farm  work  done  in  connection  with  study  directly 
related  thereto. 

3.  Productive  Farming  as  Educational  Projects 
Farming  is  favorable  to  the  home-project  plan,  because  it  resolves 
itself  readily  into  various  more  or  less  independent  units  of  productive 
work.  Units  of  agricultural  experiment  station  work,  under  the 
"  Adams  Act,"  which  provided  federal  aid  for  such  work  in  all  states, 
had  been  called  "  projects."  Constructing  a  bridge  had  been  called 
a  ''project."    There  had  been  all  sorts  of  business  undertakings 


HOME-PROJECT   VERSUS  SELF-CONTAINED   SCHOOL         39 

called  "  projects."     "  Project "  was  a  convenient,  almost  self-explana- 
tory term  for  units  of  farm  production. 

(i)  First  use  of  "  project  "  for  unit  of  vocational  instruction.  — 
We  do  not  remember  who  first  used  the  term  "  project  "  as  applied 
to  units  of  farm  production  studied  at  the  school  and  carried  out  by 
the  boys  at  their  homes  under  school  supervision  such  as  that  pro- 
posed in  the  foregoing  announcement.     Dr.  David  Snedden  became 


Fig.  27.  —  Home  nursing  —  changing  a  bed  with  patient  in  it.     .\  strong  course  in  home 
nursmg   and   emergencies  is   given.      Model   chamber   for   the   sick.      Smith   School 
Northampton. 

Commissioner  of  Education  in  Massachusetts,  November  15,  1909; 
and  Mr.  C.  A.  Prosser,  Deputy  Commissioner  for  Vocational  Educa- 
tion in  January,  1910.  Dr.  Snedden  remembers  using  the  term  "  proj- 
ect "  in  a  committee  discussion  of  the  National  Education  Associa- 
tion, m  1908-1909,  in  connection  with  manual  training  proposals; 
thinks  he  "  insensibly  carried  the  word  over  to  discussion  of  a  voca- 


40 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


tional  school  unit  of  work ;"  and  in  a  letter  dated  April  15, 1918,  wrote 
to  the  author :  "  I  am  quite  sure  that  the  use  of  the  words  '  project ' 
and  '  home  project '  both  began  in  the  early  days  of  the  work  of  your- 
self, Mr.  Prosser,  and  myself  in  Massachusetts."  Certain  it  is, 
also,  that  the  home-project  plan  benefited  from  the  close  collabora- 
tion and  stout  support  of  both  Mr.  Prosser  and  Dr.  Snedden,  in  the 
eariier  days ;  and  has  benefited  since,  particularly  in  administrative 
matters,  from  the  strong  and  consistent  support  of  Deputy  Commis- 
sioner R.  O.  Small  and  Commissioner  Payson  Smith,  by  whom  Mr. 
Prosser  and  Dr.  Snedden  were  succeeded. 

(2)    "  Project  "  defined  and  described.     A.    A  farming  project  is  a 
thing  to  be  done.     a.   Improvement  projects.  —  The  thing  done  may 


Fig.  28.  —  Dressmaking  and  mUlinery  room.  Course  from  plainer  under-garments  and 
work  dresses  to  dainty  wear,  evening  gowns,  and  opera  capes.  Girls  taught  to  make 
and  remodel  their  own  hats.  Garments  and  fancy  articles  made  for  sale.  Smith  School, 
Northampton. 

contribute  some  element  of  improvement  about  the  farm,  as  con- 
structing a  concrete  walk  leading  to  the  front  door,  the  planting 
and  nurturing  of  shade  trees,  the  making  and  maintaining  of  an 
attractive  lawn. 

b.  Trial  projects.  —  The  thing  done  may  be  the  planting  of  an 
untried  variety  of  fruit,  the  feeding  of  an  untried  ration,  the  testing 
of  an  untried  spraying  mixture,  or  the  testing  of  one  or  another  of 
much  advertised  roofing  materials. 


HOME-PROJECT    VERSUS  SELF-CONTAINED   SCHOOL 


41 


c.  Productive  projects.  —  Finally,  the  thing  done  may  be  of  a  pro- 
ductive nature,  as  the  growing  of  a  crop  of  clover  or  alfalfa,  the  growing 
of  a  field  of  potatoes,  the  growing  of  a  crop  of  silage  corn,  or  the  pro- 
duction of  eggs  for  the  market. 

B.  A  farming  project  is,  further,  something  to  be  done  on  a  farm, 
which  involves  a  Umited  and  definite  amount  of  equipment,  materials,' 
and  time,  and  which  is  directed  toward  the  accomphshment  of  a  speci- 
fied and  valuable  result,  a.  Improvement.  —  An  improvement  project 
may  be  limited,  for  example,  to  a  given  length  and  width  of  concrete 


Fig.  20.  —  Grand  Army  veteran  addressing  School  at  Memorial  Day  exercises.  Desks  on 
cleats  and  movable.  Floor  cleared  when  required  for  social  or  community  center  events, 
or  for  exhibitions  and  sales.  Flat-top  desk  with  tier  of  drawers  and  one  center  drawer, 
better  than  the  largest  school  desk  here  shown,  and  equally  movable.  Smith  School, 
Northampton. 

walk,  constructed  of  a  given  kind  of  stone,  sand,  and  cement, 
costing  not  to  exceed  a  given  sum  of  money,  and  requiring  not  to 
exceed  a  specified  amount  of  time. 

b.  Trial.  —  A  trial  project  may  be  limited,  for  example,  to  the 
planting  of  a  given  number  of  trees  of  an  untried  fruit,  on  a  piece  of 
ground  which  could  well  be  spared  for  such  a  hazard,  and  involving 
a  cost  in  time  and  money  which  it  was  felt  could  be  afforded  at  a  given 
time  for  this  risk. 


42  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

c  Productive.  —  A  productive  project  may  be  limited,  for  example, 
to  the  growing  of  a  given  area  of  clover  or  alfalfa,  at  a  given  cost  for 
seed,  fertilizer,  and  labor,  and  for  the  securing  of  a  specified  quantity 
and  value  of  feeding  stuff  or  roughage. 

C.  Finally,  a  farming  project,  as  the  term  is  here  used,  is  a  thmg 
to  be  done  on  a  farm,  which,  preparing  to  do  it  and  carrying  it  out  to 
a  successful  result,  involves  a  thoroughgoing  educational  process, 
a  Improvement.— The  improvement  project  of  constructmg  a 
concrete  walk  to  the  front  door  should  include  such  study  as  the  nature 


Fig-  .o  -  Assembly  Room  cleared  of  desks.  Thi„  school  has  a  department  tor  carpentry 
and  inside  finish  ng.  At  left  exhibition  and  sale  of  cabinet  work.  At  end  a  candy 
bootrand  sale.  Ill  articles  made  by  pupils.  Room  has  a  portable  stage  for  dra- 
matics.    Floor  used  for  dancing.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 

of  cement ;  its  action  on  sand  and  gravel  or  broken  stone ;  its  resist- 
ant quaUties  to  the  weather;  the  seasons  at  which  it  could  be  used; 
its  cost,  as  compared  with  other  materials,  such  as  boards,  plank  tar, 
brick,  flagging,  and  asphalt;  the  mathematical  determmation  of  the 
proportions  of  cement,  sand,  and  stone  to  be  used;  the  geometrical 
determination  of  the  sections  into  which  it  should  be  divided  and 
whether  it  should  be  crowned  or  flat ;  the  geographical  sources  of  the 
raw  material ;  and  the  market  conditions  for  purchasing  cement. 

b    Trial  -  The  trial  project  of   planting  an  untried   variety  of 
fruit  should  include  such  study  as  the  probable  adaptabihty  of  the 


HOME-PROJECT    VERSUS   SELF-CONTAINED    SCHOOL 


43 


variety  selected  to   the  soil,  the  climate  and  the  market  demands 
within  reach  of  the  farm. 

c.  Productive.  —  The  productive  project  of  growing  a  crop  of 
clover  or  alfalfa  should  include  study  of  the  various  varieties  of  clover ; 
the  comparative  adaptability  of  these  varieties  to  the  given  field  on 
which  the  crop  was  to  be  grown  and  to  the  climate  of  the  locality ; 
the  purity  and  percentage  of  germination,  and  the  most  reliable  places 
for  the  purchase  of  seed ;   the  best  time  for  seeding ;   the  best  time  for 


Fig.  31.  —  Plants  and  fancy  articles  produced  by  girls.     Exhibition  and  sale.     Assembly 
Room.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 

cutting ;  the  best  methods  of  curing  and  storing ;  the  mathematical 
calculation  as  to  the  saving  in  cost  of  feeding  stuffs  which  the  crop 
would  afford ;  the  chemical  elements  it  would  furnish  in  the  ration ; 
and  the  chemical,  biological,  and  mechanical  effects  on  the  soil  in 
which  it  would  be  grown. 

D.  A  complete  definition  of  a  "  project  "  as  here  used  has  three 
elements.  —  Thus,  it  will  be  seen  that  a  complete  definition  of  a  farm- 
ing project  as  here  used  involves  the  three  elements  of  something  to 


44  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 

be  done:  a.,  on  a  farm,  b.,  under  specified  conditions  and  for 
a  specified  valuable  result,  and,  c,  requiring  a  thoroughgoing 
education. 

E.  Project  fields  or  classes.  —  There  are  certain  broad,  general 
fields  in  which  numerous  projects  are  found.     Among  these  are : 

Vegetable  gardening  Growing  of  greenhouse  crops 

Flower  gardening  Production  of  poultry  products 

Landscape  gardening  Beekeeping 

Orcharding  Swine  husbandry 

Small  fruit  growing  Sheep  raising 

Growing  of  general  farm  crops         Horse  raising 

Farm  forestry  work  Dairying 

Agricultural   physics  and   mechanics  as  applied   in  farm  building, 

draining,  irrigating,  and  providing  and  maintaining  farm  machinery. 

(3)  Educational  analysis  of  a  project.  —  That  productive  farming 
projects  may  be  given  strong  educational  value  may  be  indicated  by 
analysis  of  a  cash  crop  project  suitable  for  the  third  or  fourth  year, 
namely  growing  a  crop  of  potatoes.  It  is  true  that  potato  growing 
has  been  successfully  done  by  elementary  school  pupils ;  but  even  a 
glance  over  the  factors  which  enter  into  the  project  now  to  be  out- 
lined will  show  that  problems  altogether  too  serious  to  be  compre- 
hended or  undertaken  by  the  younger  pupil  are  here  involved. 

It  is  to  be  understood,  of  course,  that  the  following  project  is  but 
one  of  many  which  might  be  selected. 

It  is  assumed  that  the  boy  has  chosen  for  his  major  project  the  de- 
velopment of  a  plan  to  increase  the  profit  from  the  potato  crop 
customarily  grown  on  the  home  farm.  It  is  further  assumed  that  5 
acres  of  potatoes  are  generally  grown ;  that  this  year  the  crop  is  to 
be  grown  on  clover  sod ;  that  the  variety  of  potatoes  to  be  grown  has 
been  chosen  by  the  father;  and  that  the  boy's  father  is  willing  that 
his  boy  shall  have  complete  control  of  a  given  number  of  rows  of  the 
5-acre  field,  and  shall  be  furnished  the  necessary  tools  and  materials 
for  his  project. 

Sub-projects  necessary  for  carrying  out  the  above  major  project 
might  then  be  as  follows : 


HOME-PROJECT   VERSUS  SELF-CONTAINED   SCHOOL         45 

A.   Insuring  the  most  abtmdant  crop  by : 

a.  A  proper  seed  bed.  —  The  related  study  here  should  include  knowledge 
of : 

(a)  Conditions  of  soil  air,  texture,  temperature,  and  moisture  most  favorable 
to  the  growth  of  the  potato  plant,  including  methods  of  reducing  an  undesirable 
amount  of  "  free  "  water,  of  avoiding  too  great  dilution  of  plant  food,  and  of 
securing  a  desirable  amount  of  other  water. 

(b)  Methods  of  preparing  the  seed  bed,  including  the  comparative  advan- 
tages of  fall  and  spring  plowing,  and  the  best  treatment  of  the  land  in  the 
spring  after  plowing  and  prior  to  planting. 


Fig.  32.  —  Assembly  Room.     Sewing  and  dressmaking  exhibit.     Work  of  girls.     Smith 

School,  Northampton. 

b.  Proper  fertilizing.  —  The  related  study  here  should  include  knowledge  of : 

(a)  Chemical  composition  of  the  potato  plant,  its  osmotic  and  digestive 
processes,  and  the  quantity  of  available  fertilizing  materials  it  is  capable  of 
assimilating. 

(b)  Complete  fertilizers  for  the  production  of  potatoes,  including  analyses  of 
standard  fertilizers,  and  the  plant-food  values  for  potato  growing  of  chemicals 
and  mixtures  offered  for  purchase. 

(c)  Comparative  desirability  of  muriate  and  sulphate  of  potash  for  pro- 
ducing a  crop  to  be  disposed  of  in  an  immature  state  as  new  potatoes,  or  for  pro- 
ducing a  crop  of  late  potatoes  to  be  disposed  of  for  winter  use  ;  and  the  extent 
to  which  the  "  mealy  "  character  of  the  mature  crop  should  be  the  determining 
factor  in  choosing  between  these  two  kinds  of  potash. 

(d)  Clover  sod  as  a  factor  in  determining  the  proportion  of  nitrogen  to  be 
supplied. 

(e)  Best  formula  for  a  complete  fertilizer  for  this  particular  crop,  taking 
into  account  the  potato  plant,  the  previous  crops  and  their  fertilizer  treat- 


46 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


ment  in  the  system  of  crop  rotation  followed  on  the  home  farm,  the  present 
soil  conditions,  and  the  purpose  of  the  crop. 

(f)  Most  liberal  amount  of  fertilizer  warranted  for  use  in  growing  this 
particular  crop,  in  view  of  the  known  condition  of  the  land  and  the  assimilative 
powers  of  the  potato  plant;  and  the  saving  in  cost  by  home  mixing  of  the 
supply  to  be  used. 

c.  Using  the  best  seed. — The  related  study  here  should  include  knowledge  of : 

(a)  Botanical  characteristics  of  the  potato  plant;  the  difference  between 
a  seed  and  a  tuber ;  and  potato  improvement  bj-  various  methods  and  condi- 
tions of  propagation,  taking  into  account  tendencies  of  the  potato  plant  to 
"  variation  "  and  to  "  mixing  in  the  hill." 

(b)  Importance  of  planting  "  seed  "  selected  in  the  field  from  the  best- 
yielding  hills,  rather  than  seed  selected  from  the  bin  merely  by  size  of  tubers; 


Fig.  3S-  —  V'ista  with  mansion  at  ciKi  vn  prupcrty  selected  for  Esse.\  County  .\gricultural 
School.  Real  home  for  the  'Home-making  Department  ready  for  work  with  minimum 
of  delay.  Similar  buildings  found  on  properties  approved  for  Bristol  and  Norfolk 
Agricultural  schools. 

checked  by  the  importance  of  using  potatoes  produced  under  cooler  climatic  con- 
ditions than  those  under  which  the  pupil's  crop  is  to  l)e  grown. 

(c)   Advantage  of  using  potatoes  for  planting  which  have  been  properlj- 
stored,  and  the  effects  of  freezing  and  of  sprouting  in  the  cellar. 


HOME-PROJECT    VERSUS  SELF-CONTAINED   SCHOOL 


47 


(d)  Conditions  under  which  it  maj'  be  desirable  to  sprout  potatoes  to  be 
used  for  planting,  in  a  warm,  well-lighted  room,  —  the  temperature,  the  time, 
and  the  care  in  handling  required  for  such  sprouting. 

(e)  Size  of  piece  and  number  of  eyes  to  the  piece,  as  important  factors  in 
starting  the  crop  and  in  the  quantit}-  of  its  yield. 

d.  Proper  planting.  —  The  related  study  here  should  include  knowledge 
of: 

(a)  Botanical  and  chemical  characteristics  of  the  potato  plant,  as  to  its 
feeding  habits,  the  growth  of  the  tubers,  and  the  effect  on  the  tubers  as  food 
products  of  exposure  to  the  sun  during  their  growth. 

(b)  Distances  between  rows,  and  between  seed  pieces  in  the  row. 

(c)  Depth  of  planting,  in  its  relation  to  protection  of  the  tubers  from  the 
sun,  shielding  the  crop  from  possible  rot-producing  bacteria  and  spores,  and 
subsequent  cultivation,  whether  by  the  "  level  "  or  by  the  "  hill  "  method. 

(d)  Best  time  for  planting,  whether  for  "  early  "  or  for  "  late  "  potatoes. 


Fig.  34.  —  Horse  stable  and  carriage  house  found  on  property  selected  for  Esse.x  County 
Agricultural  School.  Ample  barn  space  elsewhere.  Quickly  converted  into  school  build- 
ing for  the  .Agricultural  Department  with  130  boys.     See  Fig.  35. 

e.    Proper  spraying.  —  The  related  study  here  should  include  knowledge 
of: 

(a)  Botanical' characteristics  of  the  potato  plant,  particularly  the  relation 
of  health  and  luxuriance  of  foliage  to  tuber  production. 

(b)  Insect  enemies  of  the  potato  plant,  and  tht-ir  entomological  character- 
istics, such  as  their  methods  of  propagation  and  their  feeding  habits. 

(c)  Depredations  of  insects,  and  their  possible  relation  to  attacks  upon  the 
potato  plant  by  plant  diseases. 


48 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


(d)  Paris  green :  its  chemical  composition ;  its  protective  action  against 
the  insect  enemies  of  the  potato  plant ;  dangers  attendant  upon  its  use ;  its 
possible  combination  with  Bordeaux  mixture ;  and  the  best  formula,  method 
of  preparation,  and  periods  for  its  application.  Arsenate  of  lead  similarly 
studied. 

f.  Proper  cultivating.  —  The  related  study  here  should  include  knowledge 
of: 

(a)  Physical  characteristics  of  the  soil,  particularly  the  capillary  movement 
of  water  to  the  surface  of  the  soil,  and  exhaustion  of  soil  moisture  by  evapora- 
tion. 

(b)  Surface  conditions  most  favorable  for  receiving  rain  water  without 
washing,  puddling,  or  subsequent  baking. 


Fig.  35.  —  Barn,  shown  in  Fig.  34,  remodeled  at  moderate  cost  into  school  building. 
Part  of  faculty  shown.  Steel  lockers,  shower  baths,  and  lunchroom  in  basement. 
Essex  County  Agricultural  School. 

(c)  Value  of  a  "  dust  mulch,"  and  the  most  desirable  method  and  frequency 
of  cultivation  for  maintaining  such  a  mulch. 

(d)  Comparative  cost  and  advantages  of  "  level  "  and  "  hill  "  cultivation, 
and  reasons  for  the  choice  of  the  particular  method  to  be  followed  in  cultivating 
the  present  crop. 

B.   Insuring  the  cleanest  crop  by  : 

a.  Dipping  the  "  seed  "  potatoes  in  a  formalin  solution.  The  related  study 
here  should  include  knowledge  of : 


HOME-PROJECT   VERSUS  SELF-CONTAINED   SCHOOL 


49 


(a)  Plant  parasites  which  produce  "  scabby  "  potatoes,  and  the  biological 
conditions  favorable  and  antagonistic  to  their,  growth. 

(b)  Formalin  solution:  its  chemical  constitution;  its  chemical  action 
on  these  damaging  potato  parasites ;  and  the  proper  formula  and  method  for 
its  use  in  protecting  the  potato  crop. 

b.  Substituting  chemical  fertilizers  for  barnyard  manure.  The  related 
study  here  should  include  knowledge  of : 

(a)  Dangers  of  infection  from  the  use  of  barnyard  manure. 

(b)  Dangers  of  infection,  if  any,  from  the  use  of  chemical  fertilizers. 

C.  Insuring  the  sound- 
est crop  by  spraying  the 
potato  plants  with  Bor- 
deaux mixture.  The  re- 
lated study  here  should 
include  knowledge  of : 

a.  Bacterial  and  fun- 
gous diseases  to  which  the 
potato  plant  is  subject; 
evidences  of  their  presence  ; 
and  whether  or  not  they 
are  preventable. 

b.  Bordeaux  mixture : 
its  chemical  composition  ; 
its  protective  action  against 
potato-plant  diseases ;  and 
the  best  formula,  method 
of  preparation,  and  periods 
of  application  for  its  effec- 
tive use. 

D.  Other  sub-projects 
should  include  the  most 
profitable  means  and  meth- 
ods of  harvesting,  storing, 
and  marketing  the  crop. 
And  other  study  related  to 
these  projects  should  in- 
clude knowledge  of  potato 

implements  and  machines  and  their  uses;  the  comparative  advantages  of  cellar 
and  field  pit  for  storage ;  principles  and  means  of  ventilation,  and  the  temper- 
ature at  which  potatoes  should  be  kept ;  near  and  more  distant  markets,  and 
comparative  transportation  cost ;  prices  and  the  probable  tendency  of  prices, 
in  view  of  the  press  and  government  reports  of  the  potato  crop  for  the  state, 
neighboring  states,  the  country,  and  the  world. 


Fig.  36.  —  New  classroom,  laboratory,  and  office  building 
now  completed  to  accommodate  200  boys.  V^ery  com- 
pact county.  Network  of  steam  and  electric  railways. 
Large  enrollment  at  central  school  less  objectionable 
under  such  conditions.  No  dormitory  here  or  any- 
where in  the  Massachusetts  agricultural  school  system. 
Boys  in  foreground  studying  vegetable  seeds  they  are 
producing.     Essex  County  Agricultural  School. 


50 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


The  study  related  to  the  work  of  carrying  out  this  potato  project 
embraces,  therefore,  important  matter  from  several  sciences,  including 
botany,  chemistry,  physics,  entomology,  bacteriology,  and  plant 
pathology.  For  the  calculations,  mathematics  would  be  necessary; 
for  keeping  the  accounts,  bookkeeping  would  be  required  ;  for  correct 


Pj(5  27  —  Steel  lockers,  L-ngth  her*  shown,  ventilated  and  with  shelf  in  top,  preferred. 
Note  dust-proof  filing  case,  open  in  Director  Smith's  hands,  and  closed  on  top  of  locker, 
used  by  pupils  for  notebooks,  textbooks  and  bulletins  between  classes.  Essex  County 
Agricultural  School. 

correspondence,  there  should  be  training  in  business  English;  con- 
sideration of  transportation,  markets,  and  world  production  would  in- 
volve knowledge  of  commercial  and  agricultural  geography. 

The  project  method  of  instruction  on  the  side  of  related  study,  thus, 
it  will  be  evident,  must  insure  that  the  boy,  in  carr\nng  out  his  proj- 
ects, shall  pass  through  a  thoroughgoing  educational  process. 

4.   Projects  of  Pupils,  and  Other  Farm  Work 
The  home-project  method  of  instruction  fits  nicely  into  the  usual 
farm  activities  of  the  boy.     The  boy  may  help  with  the  milking 
throughout  his  course,  where  the  object  is  to  get  the  cows  milked  as 


HOME-PROJECT    VERSUS  SELF-CONTAINED   SCHOOL  ^i 


quickly  as  possible  and  where  no  records  are  kept.  During  certain 
months  of  at  least  one  year,  the  school  should  require  whatever  time 
may  be  necessary  to  keep  an  accurate  record  of  a  part  of  the  herd. 
This  may  be  limited  to  the  weighing  and  Babcock  testing  of  milk 
from  a  single  cow  and  giving  the  cow  credit  for  what  she  produces. 

It  may  be  part  of  the  boy's  business  to  assist  in  feeding  the  cows. 
During  part  of  his  course,  sufficient  time  should  be  given  him  to  weigh 
the  ration  and  to  charge  at  least  one  cow  what  it  costs  to  keep  her. 

In  the  original  routine  to  which  he  has  been  accustomed  in  milking, 
much  or  little  attention  may  have  been  paid  to  the  cleanliness  of  cows, 


7  "~      ^WML-  '  " 

,^-^:m^% 

■  1         -  */ 

Fig.  38.  —  One  of  Agricultural  Science  laboratories  in  remodeled  barn.  Pupils  testing  soils. 
Part  of  "project  study."  (A  bam  at  Bristol  County  Agricultural  School  was  similarly 
adapted  to  immediate  classroom  use  while  new  main  building  was  being  provided,  and 
is  now  used  for  farm  shop-work  and  apple  packing.)     Esse.x  County  Agricultural  School. 

Utensils,  or  the  person  and  clothing  of  the  milker.  During  part  of  his 
time  in  school,  the  boy  should  be  given  whatever  time  may  be  neces- 
sary to  milk  at  least  one  cow  and  preserve  her  milk  under  absolutely 
sanitary  conditions,  and  to  sample  the  milk  for  bacteriological  tests 
at  the  school. 

In  the  original  cropping  of  the  farm,  much  or  little  attention  may 
have  been  paid  to  leguminous  crops.     During  one  season  at  least, 


52 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


facilities  should  be  given  the  pupil  to  grow  a  field  of  clover,  and  to 
observe  the  effect  of  introducing  a  large  proportion  of  clover  into  the 
ration  of  the  cow. 

In  the  ordinary  conduct  of  the  farm  much  or  little  attention  may 
have  been  paid  to  the  selection  and  testing  of  corn  for  seed.  But, 
prior  to  planting,  one  season  at  least,  the  boy  should  be  given  what- 
ever time  may  be  necessary  to  make  germination  tests  of  the  corn 


Fig.  39.  —  Boys  at  luncheon  in  basement  recreation  room  of  barn  remodeled  into  school 
building.  Once  the  pig-pen.  Now  spotless  with  concrete  floor  and  white  enamel  paint. 
Essex  County  Agricultural  School. 

which  it  is  proposed  to  plant ;  also  during  one  season  the  boy  should 
be  given  control  of  a  portion  of  the  cornfield  to  make  an  "  ear  to 
row  "  corn  test,  to  observe  the  difference  in  yield  between  different 
ears  of  corn,  —  all  the  corn  from  one  ear  being  planted  in  one  row,  and 
all  the  corn  from  another  ear  being  planted  in  another  row. 

In  the  ordinary  routine  of  the  farm  it  may  be  that  the  boy  is  re- 
quired to  tend  the  poultry.  During  at  least  one  year,  he  should  be 
given  control  of  at  least  one  pen  of  poultry,  and  faciUties  for  feeding 


HOME-PROJECT   VERSUS  SELF-CONTAINED   SCHOOL         53 

a  balanced  ration  and  trap-nesting  individual  birds  for  comparison  of 
productivity  in  laying. 

It  may  be  part  of  the  usual  work  of  the  boy  to  help  cultivate  and 
harvest  the  potato  crop.  During  one  season  at  least,  he  should  be 
given  facilities  for  testing  the  value  of  the  use  of  formalin  for  the  pre- 
vention of  potato  scab,  and  of  the  Bordeaux  mixture  for  protection 
against  potato  blight. 

It  may  be  part  of  the  usual  work  of  the  boy  to  assist  in  the  apple 
harvest.  During  one  season  at  least,  he  should  be  given  facilities  for 
pruning  at  least  one  tree,  spraying  it,  in  winter,  if  it  is  at  all  infested 
by  scale,  and  at  other  seasons  for  protection  of  foliage  and  fruit,  cul- 
tivating under  it  and  fertilizing  it.  During  one  season,  also,  he  should 
be  given  facihties  for  grading  and  packing  the  fruit  from  at  least  one 
tree  and  for  disposing  of  the  product  with  a  view  to  securing  fancy 
prices  for  at  least  part  of  the  crop.  If  he  could  be  given  control  of  a 
block  of  five  or  more  trees,  and  were  a  fairly  husky  boy  of  sixteen  or 
seventeen,  the  rewards  for  his  work  and  incentives  to  intelligent  action 
would  be  so  much  the  greater. 

;-  5-    Parents  Like  Home  Projects 

Parents  like  the  home-project  plan.  It  obviates  the  necessity  of 
sending  the  boys  away  from  home  in  order  to  secure  the  benefits  of 
agricultural  training.  The  cost  of  living  for  the  boys  is  less  at  home 
than  it  would  be  at  a  boarding  school.  Parents  who  need  the  help 
of  their  boys  are  deprived  of  their  services  during  only  a  portion  of  the 
day. 

Cooperative  work  between  the  school  and  the  home  farm  is  an  ef- 
fective means  of  trying  out  under  the  conditions  of  individual  farms, 
over  widely  scattered  areas,  methods  which  have  proved  to  be  profit- 
able elsewhere,  as,  for  example,  at  the  State  Agricultural  College  or 
Experiment  Station.  Such  cooperation  enables  a  boy  to  try  out  the 
home  farm  as  an  agency  for  producing  profits,  when  treated  by  the 
best  known  methods ;  that  is  to  say,  the  home  project  is  a  means 
whereby  the  principles  and  methods  taught  by  the  school  can  be 
positively,  and  without  delay,  adapted  by  the  boy  to  the  economic 
conditions  of  the  farm  on  which  he  may  spend  his  working  days. 


54 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


Home-project  work  thus  gives  to  agricultural  teaching  the  reality  of 
actual  life,  as  but  little  school  training  can  give  it. 

Under  the  home-project  plan,  the  instruction  is  adapted  to  the  kinds 
of  farming  prevalent  in  the  districts  surrounding  the  centers  where 
the  work  is  established.  The  practical  applications  of  the  instruction 
are  thus  subject  to  the  obstacles  continually  encountered  under  the 
economic  farming  conditions  found  in  any  given  district,  just  as  they 


Fig.  40.  —  One  of   "project  study"    rooms  in  remodeled   barn.     Partitions  and   ceiling 
sheathed.     Before  new  building  was  ready.     Essex  County  Agricultural  School. 

are  also  aided  by  all  the  influences  in  a  commonwealth  which  make 
for  the  improvement  of  farming. 

The  force  of  all  this  is  felt  by  the  parents.  This  struggle  with  re- 
alities, especially,  wins  their  admiration  and  holds  their  respect. 
They  feel  that  the  agricultural  instructors  are  competent  and  un- 
afraid. 

6.   Young  People  Respond 

This  method  immediately  appeals  to  the  motor  instincts  and  activi- 
ties of  boys  of  secondary  school  age.  The  success  of  boys  in  the  corn 
growing  and  other  clubs  in  many  states  shows  that  boys  instantly 
respond  to  help,  though  ever  so  little,  at  home. 

A  schoolboy  of  sixteen  at  a  Massachusetts  Corn  Show  won  the  sweep- 
stakes against  all  comers,  including  the  man  who  was  the  sweep- 


HOME-PROJECT    VERSUS  SELF-CONTAINED   SCHOOL         55 

stakes  winner  of  the  previous  year  at  the  big  New  England  Corn  Show, 
for  the  best  single  ear  of  corn  and  also  for  the  best  collection  of  ten 
ears.  He  had  been  given  seed  by  the  former  winner,  and  had  been 
told  and  shown  out  of  school  hours  what  to  do,  and  when  and  how  to 


Fig.  41.  —  Electric  cars  pass  the  duur.  Service  frequent.  Half-rate  fares  to  and  from  all 
parts  of  county.  Special  cars  sent  for  pupils  at  close  of  school,  and  for  such  events  as 
"Farmers  Day,"  when  fully  1000  people  come  to  the  school.  Essex  County  Agricul- 
tural School. 

do  it  on  his  father's  land.  The  man  who  helped  him  said,  "  That  boy 
has  pumped  me  all  summer !  "  Most  boys,  like  most  men,  learn  best 
by  being  told  and  shown  on  the  field  of  action.  It  is  a  new  and  most 
delightful  experience  in  teaching  when  the  boys,  and  not  the  instructor, 
do  most  of  the  pumping. 

7.    Counting  the  Cost  of  Farming 

An  essential  feature  of  the  home-project  plan  of  training  is  the 
consideration  of  cost  at  all  points.  The  boy  by  this  method  learns 
through  his  own  experience  that  there  can  be  no  product  without  cost 
and  no  profit  without  excess  of  receipts  over  all  expenditures.  After 
such  an  experience,  he  will  not  be  likely  to  undertake  a  new  enterprise 


56  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

without  a  serious  attempt  to  estimate  accurately  his  probable  profit. 
The  boy  is  subjected  to  the  prevailing  economic  conditions  under 
which  the  home  farm  must  yield  a  profit  or  loss  at  the  end  of  a  year  of 
work.     The  methods  by  which  the  boy  becomes  on  a  small  scale  a 


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- 

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JH^^I 

HHbir           a 

^^^^Bft- 

l^^gSS 

1         J  vC?^'''' 

Bl^ 

^^^^Z 

^gg 

1 

i 

^g 

i^»ja»cisS'^-  •^•^  *•>«««« 

^^^^m^ 

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■ 

■ 

■■•,*--           ^     ■■■ 

Fig.  42.  —  Petersham  High  School,  first  to  provide  special  equipment  for  agricultural 
course.  One  of  first  consoUdated  rural  schools.  On  a  hill-top.  Nearest  railways,  steam 
or  electric,  about  ten  miles  distant.  All  grades.  Latest  development,  a  model  dental 
clinic.  Built  by  taxation  and  subscriptions  from  pubUc-spirited  citizens.  Recess  time. 
School  has  tennis  court  and  ball  field,  also  ten  acres  of  tillable  land. 

farmer  or  business  man  for  himself  give  the  project  which  he  is  carry- 
ing on,  and  the  school  work  in  which  he  is  participating,  a  reality  not 
otherwise  attainable.  It  heightens  measurably  his  interest  in  the 
work  and  in  the  related  study  of  the  school. 

8.    Earning  and  Learning 

The  emphasis  put  upon  home  projects  in  Massachusetts  insures 
that  the  agricultural  instruction  shall  not  be  merely  academic.  Where 
agricultural  instruction  is  really  scientific,  there  should  be  no  hesita- 
tion in  putting  it  to  the  test  of  productive  work.  Of  our  agricultural 
instructors  and  of  our  boys,  it  is  emphatically  true  that  they  are  known 
by  their  fruits.     A  tabulation  of  the  agricultural  earnings  of  the  boys, 


HOME-PROJECT    VERSUS  SELF-CONTAINED   SCHOOL  57 

year  by  year  since  state-aid  and  supervision  were  provided,  will  be 
found  on  page  429.  From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  in  1917,  518  day 
pupils  earned  from  farm  work  $111,500.87,  of  which  $63,751.26  was 
cash  and  the  remainder  credit,  given  by  parents,  for  work  and  products. 
From  this  report  it  will  also  be  seen  that  2549  adults  taught  by  the 
itinerant  method  grew  agricultural  products  for  home  use  to  the  value 


Fig.  43.  — Note  greenhouse.  Greenhouse  may  be  an  advantage,  but  not  required  for 
state  aid.  No  other  department  has  one.  School  has  tools  for  farm  shop-work,  and 
a  domestic  science  teacher.     Petersham  Agricultural  Department. 

of  $45,083.50;    and  products  sold  or  exchanged,   to    the   value   of 
$28,097.21 ;   or  a  total  value  of  $73,180.71. 

This  plan  offers  the  boy,  all  too  eager  to  quit  school  for  work  on 
reaching  his  fourteenth  birthday,  a  strong  incentive  to  continue  in 
school;  because  it  undertakes  to  make  him  an  earner  while  still  a 
learner.  Boys  like  to  feel  that  as  members  of  the  family  they  are  at 
last  able  to  pay  their  own  way. 


9.    Conclusion 

The  author  believes  that  home  farm  work,  studied  at  school  and 
supervised  by  the  agricultural  instructor,  where  conditions  are  at  all 


58 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTUR.AL   EDUCATION 


like  those  in  Massachusetts,  might  well  be  substituted  everywhere 
for  methods  of  little  work,  or  no  work  at  all  of  a  combined  appren- 
ticeship and  managerial  nature,  in  the  development  of  vocational 
agricultural  education ;  and  that  the  project  method  of  bringing 
agricultural  science  immediately  to  bear  on  actual  farm  practice,  in 


Fig.  44.  —  "Project  study"  room.  Note  agricultural  "atmosphere."  Seeds,  seed  com, 
germination  box,  signs  used  in  field  demonstrations,  etc.  Sanderson  Academy,  Ashfield, 
Agricultural  Department. 

going  commercial  agricultural  enterprises,  conducted  by  the  boys 
themselves,  is  a  promising  solution  of  the  most  pressing  problem  in 
this  field  of  vocational  training.  He  believes,  in  short,  that  the 
home-project  school  or  department  is  more  to  be  desired  than  is  the 
agricultural  school  which  is  self-contained. 


CHAPTER   III 
PROJECT  STUDY   VERSUS   SUBJECT  STUDY 

I.   Project  Work  and  Project  Study 

The  project  plan  of  vocational  agricultural  education  embodies 
two  distinct  features.  One  is  farm  work,  supervised  by  a  special 
agricultural  instructor,  or  group  of  agricultural  instructors ;  the  other 


1-  IG.  45.  —  Note  reference  books,  dust-proof  tiling  cases  for  orderly  arrangement  of  bulletins, 
pigeon-holes  for  notebooks,  card-index  and  agricultural  wall  charts.  .  A  busy  comer  of 
a  literary  workshop  where  home  projects  are  carefully  planned,  thoroughly  studied,  and 
financially  profitable.     North  Easton  Agricultural  Department. 

is  study  directly  related  to  that  work.     Both  are  essential,  and  for 
each  careful  provision  must  be  made. 

Of  the  two,  it  has  proved  to  be  an  easier  task  for  the  agricultural 
speciaHst  to  inspire  and  to  direct  competent  agricultural  production, 
than  to  ampHfy  and  organize  the  training  of  his  pupils  so  as  to  insure 
thoroughgoing  study  directly  bearing  upon  their  individual  enterprises. 

2.    Project  Study  Suitable  for  Vocational  Agricultural  Schools 

(i)  Range  and  progress.  —  Beginning  with  the  boy  of  fourteen, 
who,  in  September,  enters  a  separate  or  county  vocational  agricultural 

-59 


6o 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


school  in  Massachusetts,  we  may  graphically  represent  his  training 
from  year  to  year  by  Figures  60,  99,  127,  and  183,  pages  76,  139,  194, 
and  261.  His  training  should  make  him  acquainted  with  farm  life  and 
affairs  in  general,  and  especially  well  informed  and  competent  in  the 


Fig.  46.  —  Concord  Agricultural  Department  requires  two  specialists  in  agriculture,  due 
to  large  enrollment.  Has  first  floor  of  this  building.  No  land  and  no  live-stock  at  the 
school.  Best  farmers,  including  market  gardeners  and  greenhouse  men,  cooperate. 
Home  projects  are  among  the  best  in  the  state. 

particular  fields  covered  by  his  special  projects.  No  boy,  as  shown  in 
Chapter  VI,  is  required  to  carry  out  projects  in  every  field  listed ;  but 
any  boy  may  do  so. 

(2)  Studies  not  on  diagram.  —  Such  subjects  as  agricultural  botany, 
agricultural  chemistry,  history,  civics,  and  English  may  occupy  other 
portions  of  the  time  of  the  pupils  in  a  regular  four  years'  course,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  188,  page  264. 

3.    Project  Study  Suitable  for  Vocational  Agricultural  Departments 

in  Selected  High  Schools 

(i)  Necessary  groupings.  —  In  order  to  enable  one  agricultural 
instructor  to  direct  the  project  work  and  related  study  of  each  of  his 
pupils  during  a  full  half  of  the  school  time  through  a  four  years'  course, 
groupings  by  years  and  projects  like  those  in  the  following  diagrams 


PROJECT   STUDY    VERSUS  SUBJECT   STUDY 


6i 


in  Figure  47  and  Figure  48,  are  necessary.     Certain  other  studies, 
like  those  shown  in  Figure  189,  page  265,  should  be  taken. 


School  Years  ending  1912,  1914,  and 
Other  Even  Years 

First  and  Second  Year  Pupils,  One 
Half  School  Time 


Agricultural  science  and  projects  ap- 
plied to  a  given  community  : 
Kitchen      gardening :       vegetables, 

small  fruits. 

Ornamental  planting :  shrubbery, 
llowering  plants,  lawns. 

Farm-shop  work :  making  and  re- 
pairing for  home  and  school  use, 
—  hotbeds,  cold  frames,  etc. 


School  Years  ending  1914,  1916,  and 
Other  Even  Years 

Third  and  Fourth  Year  Pupils,  One 
Half  School  Time 


Agricultural  science  and  projects  ap- 
plied to  a  given  community  : 
Farm    animals :      types,    breeding, 

management. 

Farm  buildings  :  sanitation  and  con- 
veniences, plans,  construction,  up- 
keep. 

Farm  crops  for  keeping  the  animals, 
rotations,  balancing,  cultivating, 
etc. 

Farm  machines  and  implements, 
their  use  and  repair. 


Fig.  47.  —  Diagram  of  the  high  school  department  instructor's  courses  with  older  and 
younger  boys,  separated  into  two  groups,  in  even  years. 


School  Years  ending  1913,  1915,  and 
Other  Odd  Years 

First  and  Second  Year  Pupils,  One 
Half  School  Time 


Agricultural  science  and  projects  ap- 
plied to  a  given  community  : 

Small  animals :  poultry,  sheep, 
swine,  bees,  —  types,  breeding, 
management,  rations,  etc. 

Buildings  and  equipment  for  small 
animals,  —  plans,  cost,  etc. 

Home-grown  crops  for  small  animals, 
kinds,  quantities,  seeds,  soils, 
place  in  farm  crop  rotation,  fer- 
tilizing, tilling,  harvesting,  stor- 
ing. 

Farm-shop  work  and  other  construc- 
tion. 


School  Years  ending  1915,  1917,  and 
Other  Odd  Years 

Third  and  Fourth  Year  Pupils,  One 
Half  School  Time 


Agricultural  science  and  projects  ap- 
plied to  a  given  community  : 

Fruit  growing  :  orcharding  and  small 
fruits  not  before  dealt  with,  prop- 
agating, cultivating,  packing,  etc. 

Market  gardening :  markets,  soils, 
seeds,  fertilizers,  tillage. 

Buildings  and  appliances,  plans,  de- 
vices, implements,  and  machines, 
—  cost,  use,  and  upkeep. 

Farm-shop  work  and  other  construc- 
tion. 


Fig.  48.  —  Diagram   of  high   school   agricultural   instructor's   courses  with  separate 
groups  of  older  and  younger  boys  in  odd  years. 


62 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


(2)  Agriculture  first.  —  The  Massachusetts  regulations  governing 
these  departments  require  that  when  conflict  is  unavoidable,  or 
when,  as  at  planting  or  harvesting  time,  continuous  application  for 
a  number  of  consecutive  days  to  his  projects  becomes  necessary,  all 
else  must  yield  to  the  pupil's  proper  agricultural  instruction,  no  matter 
at  what  cost  for  the  time  being  to  his  other  studies. 

Economic  returns  as  direct  incentives  to  competent  training  are 
fundamental  here  as  in  the  training  of  vocational  agricultural  schools. 

If  experience  shows  that  instruction  in  the  departments  should  be 
limited  to  first  and  second  year  projects,  pupils  desirous  of  third  and 
fourth  year  project  training  may  be  provided  for  in  separate  or  county 
agricultural  schools. 

4.    Project  Study  Concentration.     Year  Limits 
(i)  Pupil.  —  As  shown  by  the  foregoing  diagrams,  the  range  of  the 
boy's  training  is  expected  to  be  somewhat  extensive,  covering  typical 
farm  products  which  are  feasible  for  his  neighborhood.     It  is  designed, 


Fig.  4g.  — Project  study  room.  Note  rack  for  best  farm  papers,  apple  packing  table  with 
"Boston  boxes"  next  at  far  corner,  seed  sower  on  floor  at  right,  triangle  for  laying  out 
orchard  and  setting  fruit  trees.     Concord  Agricultural  Department. 


PROJECT   STUDY    VERSUS  SUBJECT   STUDY 


63 


however,  that  the  training  of  each  year  shall  be  complete  in  itself; 
also,  whatever  other  projects  he  may  undertake  or  continue  on  his 
own  account,  that  the  pupil's  first  duty  in  any  given  year  shall  be  to 
carry  out  certain  proj- 
ects selected  from  the 
groups  assigned  to  that 
year  for  study. 

(2)  Instructor.  —  Sim- 
ilarly, while  an  agricul- 
tural instructor  may 
give  advice  and  assist- 
ance privately  to  pupils 
who  are  carrying  on 
extra  projects,  the  first 
duty  of  this  instructor 
in  Massachusetts  is  to 
the  particular  groups  of 
projects  pubHshed  for 
any  given  year. 

(3)  Published  year 
groups.  — In  short,  upon 
the  particular  project 
groups  published  for 
treatment  in  any  given 
year  in  Massachusetts, 
the  attention  of  both 
pupils  and  instructors 
is    concentrated.      This 


Fig.  so.  —  Cart'fully  select ctl  agricultural  books  and 
bulletins  required.  Note  neatness  of  arrangement, 
dust-proof  filing  cases,  and  card  indexes.  Concord 
Agricultural  Department. 


restriction  adds  to  the  value  of  the  December  and  August  meetings 
to  which  the  instructors  are  called  for  the  purpose  of  conferring  con- 
cerning the  projects  they  are  teaching  and  supervising.  The  in- 
structors have  problems  in  common  for  discussion. 

5.    Project  Study  and  Capacity  of  Pupils 

(i)    Individual   versus   class.  —  Careful   planning   of   the   project 
study  is  necessary  on  the  part  of  each  instructor.     The  project  method 


64  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

of  education,  more,  it  is  believed,  than  all  others,  takes  into  account 
the  aptitudes,  requirements,  and  accomplishments  of  individual  pupils 
as  these  are  revealed  from  hour  to  hour. 

(2)  Varying  capacity.  —  Acquaintance  with  pupils  who  enroll  for 
vocational  agricultural  education  reveals  wide  variation  among  them 
in  capacity  for  project  study.  Since  farm  results  under  the  project 
method  must  be  obtained,  not  directly  by  the  instructor,  but  indirectly 
through  the  individual  pupils,  the  instructor's  plan  should  provide 
for  at  least  an  essential  minimum  of  accomplishment  on  the  part 
of  the  least  capable ;  for  a  desirable  maximum  on  the  part  of  the 
most  capable;  and  for  a  large  body  of  educational  values  to  be 
grasped  by  the  greatest  number,  —  pupils  who  are  neither  the  least 
nor  the  most  capable. 

6.    Kinds  of  Project  Knowledge 

There  may  be  distinguished  three  phases  of  instruction  in  agricul- 
tural projects,  suited  pretty  exactly,  in  their  varying  scope  and  degrees 
of  difficulty,  to  the  three  fairly  distinct  kinds  or  grades  of  capacity 
found  among  the  agricultural  pupils.  An  analysis  of  project  knowl- 
edge which  shows  these  three  gradations  will  be  of  direct  assistance 
to  the  instructor  in  formulating  his  project-study  program.  Following 
is  such  an  analysis : 

(i)  Rules,  or  plans  and  specifications,  however  simple  in  outline, 
and  whether  on  paper  or  in  the  mind,  are  necessary  for  the  intelHgent 
execution  of  any  piece  of  productive  work. 

A  boy  may  become  a  more  or  less  capable  farm  hand  without  knowl- 
edge in  advance  of  the  enterprise,  as  a  whole,  upon  which  he  enters. 
An  ordinary  laborer  is  capable  of  taking  orders  and  of  doing  routine 
farm  work.  Project  work  under  capable  supervision  should  produce 
a  skillful  farm  hand,  but  one  who  desired  hand  training  only  should 
hire  out  to  a  progressive  farmer. 

Project  study,  the  other  fundamental  of  the  project  method,  should 
produce  managerial  ability.  Good  headwork  is  required  for  successful 
farming  no  less  than  good  handwork.  Project  study  in  the  case  of 
even  the  least  capable  boy  admitted  to  this  training  should  result  in 
evidence  of  mental  accomplishment.     A  good  form  of  such  evidence 


PROJECT   STUDY    VERSUS  SUBJECT   STUDY 


65 


is  a  record  on  paper  of  the  rules  by  which  that  boy  proposes  to  be,  or 
has  been,  governed  in  the  execution  of  his  productive  enterprises. 
Inabihty  or  disinclination  on  the  part  of  any  pupil  to  find  or  for- 
mulate such  rules  is  evidence  of  unfitness  for  this  type  of  training. 

Mastery,  in  short,  of  the  simplest  rules  by 
which  the  success  of  his  productive  work  must  be 
determined  should  be  looked  upon  as  an  essential 
minimum  of  accomplishment  on  the  part  of  the 
least  capable  boy  who  is  permitted  to  remain  in 
the  class. 

(2)  Reasoning.  —  Beyond  the  precise  rules 
necessary  for  success  in  any  given  project,  there  is 
the  reasoning  from  experience,  or  from  scientific 
principles,  which  is  their  justification.  Most  of 
the  members  of  a  class  readily  penetrate  to  this 
reasoning ;  or,  at  the  hands  of  a  capable  instruc- 
tor, are  penetrated  by  it. 

The  larger  educational  efforts  of  the  instructor 
should  be  directed  toward  training  his  boys,  not 
merely  in  finding  the  naked  rules  by  which  their 
project  work  must  be  governed,  but  also  in  dis- 
covering the  practical  experience  or  the  laws  of 
nature  which  lie  back  of  them.  That  is  to  say, 
he  should  aim  to  possess  his  pupils  of  rules,  not 
as  "  rules  of  thumb,"  but  as  rules  of  reason. 

Good  farm  management  depends  upon  good 
judgment,  upon  reasoning  power,  —  not  on 
abiHty  to  find  good  rules  so  much  as  on  ability 
to  make  them.  In  the  note-books  of  most  of 
the  boys,  therefore,  there  should  be  recorded 
the  general  principles  which  they  have  mas- 
tered and  of  which  their  rules  have  been  but  particular  applications. 

(3)  Broader  results.  —  The  third  kind  of  project  knowledge  may 
consist  of  informational  materials  of  many  sorts,  —  statistical,  com- 
mercial, geographical,  historical,  scientific,  social,  and  the  like. 

Such  knowledge  cannot  be  looked  upon  as  a  direct  tool  for  carrying 


Fig.  51.  —  State  prints 
bibliography  of  ap- 
proved reference  and 
textbooks.  Libraries 
are  most  liberal  in 
lending.  Note  tag  de- 
vice for  putting  on 
state  numbers  with 
soft  twine  tied  through 
middle  of  book.  Cov- 
ers library  number  and 
is  reminder  that  book 
is  borrowed  and  should 
be  returned. 


66 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


out  a  project.  It  may  directly  supply  neither  a  rule  nor  a  reason.  It 
may,  nevertheless,  consist  of  many  most  interesting  discoveries, 
offer  much  most  excellent  educational  experience,  and  be  of 
such  a  nature  as  to  give  the  young  producer  what  may  be 
termed,  in  the  broader  senses  of  that  expression,  agricultural 
horizon. 

Siich  knowledge  falls  readily  within  the  grasp  of  the  most  capable 
pupil,  and  may  well  be  considered  for  him  a  most  desirable  maximum 
of  project  knowledge. 

(4)  Typical  for  all  projects.  —  These  three  kinds  of  project  knowl- 
edge are  typical  for  all  vocational  agricultural  projects  and  years.     Of 


Fig.  52.  —  Poultry  appliances  for  study  and  comparison.  Incubator,  brooders  and  lamps, 
feeding  hoppers,  drinking  fountains.  Better  to  borrow  such  equipment.  Dealers  very 
wilhng  to  lend.  Always  up  to  date.  Reduces  "chores"  of  care-taking  between  times, 
and  avoids  losses  through  depreciation.     Concord  Agricultural  Department. 


the  three,  the  first  and  second  are  in  the  strictest  sense  vocational ; 
the  third  has  obvious  vocational  relations,  but  may  be  largely 
cultural. 

(5)  The  three  R's  of  the  project  method.  —  It  may  not  be  altogether 
amiss  to  declare  at  this  point,  in  express  terms,  that  in  these  divisions 
of  project  knowledge,  — "Rules,"  "Reasoning,"  and  "  Broader  Re- 
sults," —  we  have  the  three  fundamentals,  —  the  three  R's,  —  of 
agricultural  study  by  the  project  method. 


PROJECT   STUDY    VERSUS  SUBJECT   STUDY 


67 


68 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


7.    Project  Study  Program  and  Records 

(i)  Of  highest  importance.  —  In  view  of  the  above  discussion,  the 
project  study  records  of  the  pupils  become  of  the  highest  importance. 
In  them  we  may  expect  to  find  the  results  of  the  instructor's  best 
efforts  as  both  program  maker  and  teacher. 


Fig.  54.  —  Note  pruning  tools,  small  sprayers,  garden  and  lawn  tools,  bottles  of  vegetable 
seeds,  cans  of  chemicals  for  fertilizers  and  sprays,  boxes  for  heads  of  grains  and  grasses, 
mount  of  good  and  bad  cuts  in  pruning.  School  lends  tools  and  sprayers  for  trial  before 
purchase,  and  rents  at  cost  where  funds  are  more  needed  for  seeds  or  fertilizers. 

(2)  A  supposed  project.  —  A  constituent  of  kitchen  gardening  is 
vegetable  growing.  Suppose  that  the  boy's  main  project  is  providing 
all,  or  a  part,  of  the  home  vegetable  supply.  Suppose  a  sub-project 
to  be  the  production  of  lettuce.     Suppose,  finally,  we  agree  that  the 


PROJECT   STUDY    VERSUS  SUBJECT   STUDY 


69 


knowledge  related  to  this  sub-project  should  be  assembled  in  a  note- 
book, and  in  drawings,  accounts,  and  the  like  to  which  the  notebook 
will  be  a  guide. 

The  aims  of  the  different  divisions  of  the  project  study  may  then  be 
represented  graphically  by  the  diagram  in  Fig.   56.     The  subject 


Fig.  55.  —  Wide-awake  instructors  keep  their  bulletin  boards  up-to-the-minute  with  sea- 
sonal matter.  Telephones  are  a  necessity.  Instructors  are  continually  called  upon 
for  advice  by  parents  and  other  farmers.     Concord  Agricultural  Department. 

matter  below  the  headings  is  explanatory  of  the  several  kinds  of 
knowledge  the  pupil  would  find  and  record. 

8.    Apportionment  of  Project  Study  Time  and  Materials 

(i)  Diagram  column  widths.  —  The  relative  widths  of  the  columns 
in  Fig.  56  may  be  considered  indications  of  an  approved  apportionment 
of  time  among  the  three  kinds  of  subject  matter,  for  the  most  capable 
pupil.  The  first  column  represents  the  least  requirement  any  pupil 
should  be  expected  to  meet  in  order  to  justify  his  retention  in  the  class. 
The  first  and  second  columns  represent  requirements  most  of  the 
pupils  should  be  expected  to  meet. 


70 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


(2)   Faculty    Cooperation.  —  At    least   three-fourths   of   the   most 
capable  pupil's  time  should  be  occupied  by  the  subject  matter  of 


Project:  Kitchen  Gardening 

Sub- Project :  Lettuce  Crop 

I 
Rules 

Reasoning 

3 
Broader  Results 

Namely,  the  Pre- 

Namely, Evidence  from  Science, 

Derived  from 

cise  Plans  and 

Observation  and  Experience  that 

More  General 

Specifications 

this  Project  as  planned  is 

Observation  and 

made  for  this 

'thoroughly  understood 

Study 

Project 

and  can  be  defended 

Object:  Skill 

Object:  Managerial  Ability 

Object:  Outlook 

Xotes  should  show 

Notes  should  show 

Notes  may  show 

The  minimum 

Knowledge  necessary  for  planning 

Acquisition  of  a 

of  knowledge  of 

a    successful    cropping    system    for 

more  extensive 

methods, 

vegetables,  —  a  system  in  which  the 

body  of  knowl- 

materials, 

lettuce  crop  may  have  a  proper  place. 

edge  centering 

equipment,  and 

Mastery  of  certain  principles  of 

around  the 

operations 

agricultural  science  which  find  some 

lettuce  plant  and 

required  for 

of  their  best  illustrations  in  lettuce 

crop.    History, 

success  this  year 

growing. 

botanical 

on  the  land 

Principles   applicable    to    lettuce 

classification, 

selected  for  this 

growing  under  varied  conditions,  but 

utilization, and 

project. 

particularly     under      those      which 
promise  success  with  this  project  the 
present  year. 

the  like. 

What  to  do 

Why's 

Knowledge  in 

First 

and 

itself 

Second,  etc. 

Wherefore's 

Desirable 

Fig.  56.  —  Diagram  of  Project  Study  Divisions.  — The  Three  R's. 


columns  i  and  2.  Column  3  may  be  covered,  particularly  in  the  later 
years  of  the  four  years'  course,  by  special  exercises  given  the  most 
capable  pupils  by  other  teachers,  such  as  teachers  of  botany,  chem- 


PROJECT  STUDY   VERSUS  SUBJECT  STUDY  71 

istry,  physics,  mathematics,  drawing,  or  English.^  Close  cooperation 
between  these  teachers  and  the  agricultural  instructor  should  further 
this  end. 

(3)  No  pupil  "  held  back."  —  In  order  to  direct  the  related  study 
of  his  class  in  the  most  competent  manner,  the  instructor  must,  of 
course,  organize  his  teaching  materials  in  advance  in  accordance  with 
two,  at  least,  of  the  three  divisions  of  knowledge  above  described. 
If  he  can  provide  materials  of  all  three  kinds,  he  will  have  the  satis- 
faction of  knowing  that  the  same  amount  of  time  may  be  devoted  by 
the  entire  class  to  study  related  to  such  a  sub-project  as  lettuce 
production,  and  yet  that  no  pupil  will  be  "  held  back  "  by  any 
other  pupil, — a  result  most  devoutly  to  be  desired  in  all  forms  of 
teaching. 

(4)  First  column,  first  in  fact.  —  It  should  be  emphasized,  further, 
that  the  first  concern  of  the  least  capable  should  be  equally  the  first 
concern  of  the  more  or  most  capable.  The  movement  of  project 
study  should  begin  at  the  project,  —  not,  as  has  too  often  been  the 
case  in  the  study  of  agriculture,  at  some  point  remote  from  it. 

(5)  High  school  half-days,  spring  and  fall.  —  Probably  the  most 
difficult  school  schedule  problems  will  be  encountered,  not  in  separate 
agricultural  schools,  but  in  the  high  school  vocational  agricultural 
departments.  High  school  principals,  however,  have  solved  these 
problems  and  have  been  amply  repaid  for  their  pains.  It  is  seldom 
necessary  for  an  agricultural  pupil  to  ask  to  be  excused  from  a  non- 
agricultural  class  in  order  to  meet  the  requirements  of  his  agricul- 
tural course,  where  half-day  assignments  to  agriculture  are  made. 
It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  half  the  school  time  during  the  fall 
and  spring  terms  is  to  be  spent  on  agricultural  project  work  and 
related  study.  It  is  necessary  that  this  entire  allowance,  when  spent 
away  from  home,  shall  be  spent  in  the  room  with,  or  under  the  direct 
supervision  of,  the  agricultural  instructor. 

(6)  More  mature  and  less  mature  minded.  —  Diagrams  showing 
how  the  less  mature-minded  group  and  the  more  mature  may    be 

>  For  a  suggestive  diagram  showing  possible  correlation  of  elementary  school  subjects 
with  school  gardening,  see  the  insert  sheet,  opposite  page  294,  of  "Among  School  Gardens," 
by  M.  Louise  Greene  (Agricultural  Project  Study  Bibliography  Entry  No.  852). 


72  VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 

worked  to  good  advantage,  during  the  strictly  agricultural  half  days, 
follow  on  pages  73,  74,  and  75.^ 

The  younger  group  is  assigned  to  the  agricultural  instructor  fore- 
noons. Parents  of  these  pupils,  or  their  other  teachers,  are  responsi- 
ble for  their  afternoons.  In  these  departments,  where  the  entire  en- 
rollment should  not  exceed  20,  the  pupils  may  generally  be  divided 
into  two  groups  of  about  equal  numbers.  Since  some  of  the  more 
mature  have  already  been  attending  high  school,  and  have  started 
on  morning  studies  two  of  which  they  may  desire  to  continue,  the 
older  pupils  have  been  assigned  to  the  agricultural  instructor 
afternoons. 

(7)  Project  study  versus  agricultural  survey.  —  It  will  be  noticed 
that  most  of  each  half-day,  and,  when  occasion  demands  it,  the  entire 
time,  is  definitely  assigned  to  project  work  or  to  study  related  thereto. 
The  project  work  will  be  continued  during  the  summer,  with  school 
supervision.  The  project  study  will  not  be  completed  in  the  fall  and 
spring  terms,  but  will  be  rounded  out  by  observations  made  and 
recorded  at  other  seasons  during  the  entire  period  required  for  the 
completion  of  the  project. 

(8)  Class  focus.  —  The  horizontal  cleavages  set  off  the  first  and  last 
periods,  —  periods  which  have  this  in  common,  that  for  the  time  being 
there  is  in  each  period  some  single  focus  of  attention  for  the  entire 
class.  Here  the  methods  are  those  with  which  all  are  familiar  in  class 
recitations  or  discussions. 

(9)  Individual  focus.  —  The  vertical  cleavages  of  the  middle  periods 
in  Fig.  59  both  indicate  and  emphasize  the  individual  study  of 
each  pupil,  the  careful  and  the  exclusive  attention  given  to  the  in- 
dividual needs  of  each  pupil  by  the  instructor,  the  adaptation  of  gen- 
eral agricultural  principles  to  the  peculiar  home  farm  requirements 
and  facilities  of  each  particular  boy  in  the  class.  Here  the  methods 
are  those  which  have  their  closest  parallels  in  customary  school  "  lab- 
oratory "  instruction,  whether  in  drawing  room,  shop,  library,  or 
science  laboratory. 

•  Continuous  half-day  time  assignments  to  project  study  and  project  work  instructors 
of  the  classes  who  work  under  their  supervision  are  equally  desirable  at  separate  or  county 
schools. 


PROJECT   STUDY    VERSUS  SUBJECT   STUDY 


73 


Periods ' 


9.00 


to 


9-4S 


Q-45 


to 


I 


to 


Forenoon  Group  :  First  and  Second  Year  Pupils 


Object . 


Agricultural  Survey  (Elementary) :  About  75  Periods 
General  Study  of  Agricultural  Production  and  Rural  Life. 


Textbook  :  "  Beginnings  in  Agriculture,"  by  Mann.^  Put  emphasis  on 
Soils  and  Plant  Life  Portions  in  year  for  Horticulture ;  on  Animal  Por- 
tions in  year  for  Animal  Husbandry.  Give  much  attention  to  sug- 
gested problems. 

Omit  this  agricultural  survey  exercise  whenever  the  entire  forenoon  should 
be  devoted  to  productive  work,  or  to  library,  laboratory,  or  other  in- 
struction bearing  directly  upon  that  work. 


Project  Work  or  Project  Study  :  A  bout  300  Periods 

Object :  Execution  of  Home  or  School  Productive  Projects  undertaken  by 
the  individual  pupils,  coupled  with  laboratory,  library,  and  other 
study  and  observation  directly  bearing  upon  those  projects. 

Concerted  Attack  by  the  entire  class  on  Plant  Projects  in  even  years  (191 2, 
1914,  etc.),  and  on  Animal  Projects  in  odd  years  (1913,  1915,  etc.). 

AnExtraProject  in  Animal  Husbandry  may  be  undertaken  in  an  even  year 
by  special  arrangement  with  the  instructor;  as,  also,  one  in  Horti- 
culture in  an  odd  year. 

Reference  Books  and  Bulletins,  including  Agricultural  Laboratory  Manuals, 
will  here  be  consulted  according  to  the  ability  and  needs  of  the  indi- 
vidual pupils. 

Notebooks,  carefully  kept,  record  in  order  the  ideas  and  plans  derived 
from  this  individual  instruction,  for  guidance  in  carrying  out  individ- 
ual projects. 

Method  :  Minimum  of  class  instruction ;  maximum  of  personal,  individual 
guidance.  The  instructor  goes  from  pupil  to  pupil,  as  does  the 
teacher  in  shop  work,  laboratory,  or  drawing  room. 


Project  Work  or  Project  Study  (continued) 
Class  Discussion  of  Individual  Projects  :  About  12s  Periods 

Object :  To  subject  individual  ideas  and  plans  to  the  criticism  of  the  entire 
class,  and  thus  to  clarify  principles  and  intensify  impressions. 

Round-up  of  Opinion  :  The  value  of  closing  each  forenoon  with  this  class 
discussion  grows  out  of  the  fact  that  though  each  has  been  working  on 
his  particular  project,  all  have  been  working  upon  the  same  sort  of  proj- 
ect, at  the  same  time;  as,  for  example,  lettuce  as  a  kitchen  garden 
crop.  A  device  for  making  all  acquainted  with  what  each  is  doing,  and 
showing  that  general  rules  must  often  be  modified  in  order  to  meet 
local  needs.     A  means  for  developing  the  managerial  type  of  mind. 


Fig.  57-  —  Diagram  of  Agricultural  Periods   for  Selected  High  Schools  in  Fall  and 
Spring  Terms  where  sessions  are  from  9  to  12,  and  from  i  to  4  o'clock. 

'  Periods  may  be  the  same  length  and  number  as  those  of  any  school.  Reser\'e  the  first 
for  the  "Survey,"  the  last  for  the  "Round-up,"  and  the  body  of  the  morning  for  individual 
instruction.  Periods  on  projects  in  summer  are  determined  by  the  work  undertaken,  and 
are  covered  by  daily  time  sheets. 

2  Other  books  have  been  approved.  The  book  best  adapted  to  local  needs  should  be 
selected.     See  pages  157  and  158. 


74 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


(lo)  Prime  merits  of  this  apportionment.  —  It  is  one  of  the  most 
important  merits  of  this  project  method  that  the  instructor  is  thus  able 


Periods • 


to 


1-45 


1-45 


to 


3IS 


3-iS 
to 

4.00 


Afternoon  Group  :  More  Mature-minded  Pupils 


Agricultural  Survey  (Advanced) :   About  75  Periods 

Object :  General  Study  of  Agricultural  Production  and  Rural  Life. 

Textbook  :  "  Elements  of  Agriculture,"  by  Warren.^  Vary  emphasis  in 
alternate  years  to  accord  with  subject  matter  of  project  work.  View 
local  conditions  in  light  of  text. 

Omit  this  survey  exercise  whenever  the  entire  afternoon  should  be  spent  in 
project  work,  or  in  observation  or  study  directly  related  thereto. 


Project  Work  or  Project  Study  :  About  300  Periods 

Object :  Execution  of  Home  or  School  Productive  Projects,  coupled  with 
library,  laboratory,  and  other  study  and  observation  directly  related 
to  those  projects. 

Concerted  Attack  by  the  whole  class  upon  Animal  Projects  in  even  years 
(1914,  191 6,  etc.),  and  on  Plant  Projects  in  odd  years  (1915,  191 7,  etc.) 

An  Extra  Project  in  Horticulture  may  be  carried  out  by  special  arrange- 
ment with  the  instructor,  in  an  even  year;  or,  in  Animal  Husbandry, 
in  an  odd  year. 

Reference  Books  and  Bulletins,  including  Agricultural  Laboratory  Manuals, 
will  here  be  consulted,  according  to  the  ability  and  needs  of  the  in- 
dividual pupils. 

Notebooks  are  carefully  kept,  for  setting  in  order  the  ideas  and  plans 
derived  from  this  individual  instruction  for  guidance  in  executing  the 
projects  undertaken  for  profit  by  the  individual  pupils. 

Method  :  Same  as  in  forenoon  for  first  and  second  year  pupils. 


Project  Work  or  Project  Study  (Continued) 
Class  Discussion  of  Individual  Projects :  About  125  Periods 

Same  Purposes  to  be  served  here  as  in  corresponding  period  for  less  mature 
group. 

(See  last  period  of  previous  diagram.) 


Fig.  58.  —  Diagram  of  Agricultural  Periods  for  Selected  High  Schools. 

1  See  footnote  on  preceding  page  as  to  length  and  number  of  periods.     Same  rules  to 
apply  to  more  mature,  as  to  less  mature  pupils. 

2  Other  books  have  been  approved.     The  book  best  adapted  to  local  needs  should  be 
selected.     See  pages  157  and  158. 


PROJECT  STUDY    VERSUS  SUBJECT   STUDY 


75 


to  deal  with  the  particular  needs  and  capacities  of  individual  pupils, 
and  at  the  same  time  maintain  close,  efficient  and  progressive  class 
organization  and  control.  Both  pupil  and  instructor  pass  from  the 
"  familiar  "  method  of  the  recitation  or  laboratory  demonstration 


First 

Agricultural  Survey : 

Period 

Single  focus  of  attention  for  the  entire  class,  viz.,  the  common 

textbook  subject  or  problem  assigned  the  previous  day. 

Mid- 

Boy A 

Boy  B 

BoyC 

BoyD 

Etc. 

Etc. 

1 

Etc. 

dle 

iNDIVIDt] 

AL  AgrJ 

CULTURi 

\L    PrOJ 

ECTS. 

C 
O 

■*-' 
u 

example, 
^oblems  at 

Tiake  con- 
le  class. 

f  the  half- 
up." 

o 

O 
>> 

C 

o 

1-1 

iJ 
-C 
+J 
(LI 

"bC 
.S 

'35 

d 

5  a 

~   o 

O     rG 

^1 

bC 

o 

4-) 

o 

.G 

^  m 

>»    ^3 

1>       1) 

>-.    o 

o.o 

^ 

bO 

^  2 

C     OJ 

1^ 

^^ 

s  fr 
per 

o 

3 
O 
C 

ing  his  c 
instruc 

owever, 
ut  their 
e. 

may  be 
value  tc 

the  fina 
id  for  a 

will  pas 
middle 

ys  may 
pe  rimer 

OJ 

>> 

Pe- 
riods 

ach  boy  study 
one,  with  the 

11  the  boys,  h 
be  working  o 
the  same  tim 

herefore  each 
tributions  of 

or  this  reason 
day  is  reserv 

he  instructor 
during  these 

wo  or  three  bo 
laboratory  ex 

ight  or  ten  bo 
group. 

W 

<^ 

H 

U^ 

H 

H 

H 

Last 

Round-up  of  ideas  derived  from   the   individual   studv  of   the 

Period 

middle  periods.      Again,  a  single  focus  of  attention. 

Fig.  sg.  —  Another  Diagram  of  the  Agricultural  Half-day. 


provided  for  in  the  first  period,  to  the  "  less  familiar  "  seminar  or  in- 
dividual study  and  guidance  method  of  the  succeeding  periods.  Rad- 
ical changes  in  attitude  of  mind  are  inevitable  in  passing  from  the 
general  "  survey  "  of  agriculture  to  the  searching  for-  help  toward 
the  solution  of  pressing  local  problems  in  the  "  project  "  study  periods, 
and  then  to  comparison  of  problems  with  problems,  and  project  with 


76 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


project,  by  the  pupils  in  the  "  round-up"  period.     And  there  are  im- 
portant accompanying  changes  of  physical  attitude  and  activities. 

Both  physiologically  and  psychologically,  therefore,  this  massing 
and  apportionment  of  time  are  not  merely  defensible ;  they  are  highly 
desirable.  They  establish  model  conditions  for  achieving  the  best  re- 
sults now  striven  for  in  secondary  education  by  Professor  Alfred  L. 
Hall-Quest  and  others  through  "  supervised  study." 

9.    Vegetable  Growing  Project  Study 

We  have  seen  that  vegetable  growing  is  among  the  projects  assigned 
for  first  or  second  year  study.  The  pupil  brought  up  on  a  farm  is 
likely  to  bring  to  the  classroom  considerable  familiarity  with  several 
kinds  and  varieties  of  vegetables.     It  remains  for  his  agricultural 


L^sual  Afije  of  Bov. 


f^> 


14  or  Older 


Plaxt  Projects 
Elementary 


Kitchen   Gardening    and    Ornamental 
Planting 

Vegetables  and  Small  Fruit  for  Family 

or  Sale 

Making  Home  attractive 


Fig.  60.  —  First -year  projects  focus  upon  plant  production.  Preference  for  such  projects 
for  beginners  was  published  first,  for  state-wide  application  in  Massachusetts,  in  Septem- 
ber, 191 1.  This  applies  to  Schools  in  all  years;  and,  as  explained  in  the  text,  in  even 
years  to  high  school  departments.     See  pages  59-61 . 

instructor  to  amplify  his  knowledge  and  experience  to  the  fullest 
possible  extent. 

The  following  chapter  gives  suggestive  outlines  for  vegetable  grow- 
ing, together  with  a  brief  preliminary  discussion  of  various  possible 
classifications  of  vegetables  and  a  list  of  vegetables  successfully  grown 
in  Massachusetts  home  gardens.  It  is  therein  stated  that  probably 
it  will  be  feasible  in  most  cases  for  the  pupils  to  undertake  to  grow 
eleven  varieties,  illustrative  of  the  eleven  groups  of  vegetables  which 
may  be  distinguished  from  the  very  practical  point  of  view  of  their 
methods  of  cultivation. 


PROJECT   STUDY    VERSUS  SUBJECT   STUDY 


77 


The  requirements  and  tastes  of  most  families  make  it  easy  to  secure 
the  consent  of  parents  to  the  growing  of  this  number  of  varieties  in 
sufficient  quantity  for  the  home  supply.  In  addition,  each  pupil  is 
encouraged  to  grow  at  least  one  variety  on  such  a  scale  as  to  provide 
a  surplus  for  sale  as  a  cash  crop. 

The  pupil  may  be  helped  at  will,  in  the  actual  work  of  his  vegetable 
growing,  by  members  of  his  family,  by  exchanging  work  with  fellow 
pupils,  or  by  hired  labor.     It  is  essential,  however,  that  he  himself. 


1-  <* 


'4 


.:ia^^ 


Fig.  6i.  —  Boys  of  fourteen  begin  with  home  gardens.  Eleven  \  arieties  of  vegetables  are 
generally  grown,  at  least  one  from  each  class,  such  as  "root"  crop,  "cole"  crop,  "cu- 
curbitous"  crop,  etc.  Irving  McCabe's  home  project.  First  year.  Clean  cultivation. 
Dust  mulch.     Concord  Agricultural  Department. 

with,  of  course,  the  aid  of  his  agricultural  instructor,  shall  plan  his 
project  and  manage  it ;  shall  be  taught,  and  shall  attain  proficiency 
in,  every  phase  of  the  actual  work  of  his  productive  enterprise ;  and, 
finally,  shall  render  a  written  report  and  an  accurate  account  of  all 
expenditures  and  receipts  in  connection  with  his  undertaking. 

In  vocational  training  the  economic  aspects  of  the  projects  carried 
out  by  pupils  are  of  the  utmost  importance,  both  as  to  manipulative 
skill  and  as  to  sagacity  in  management.  Work,  use  of  teams  and  tools 
and  such  materials  as  stable  manure,  for  which  cash  is  not  paid, 


78 


VOCATION.\L  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


should,  therefore,  be  charged  at  fair  valuations  against  the  projects. 
There  should  be  proper  charges  for  rent,  or  for  interest  on  the 
capital  invested  and  used.     And  all  products,  whether  furnished 


Fig.  62.  —  Field  studies  are  interwoven  with  field  work.  Excavation  by  class.  Roots  gently 
washed  out.  Root  systems  of  different  vegetables  studied  and  compared.  Object,  best 
tillage  for  each  class  of  vegetables.  Not  a  boy  who  made  this  study  had  shghtest  idea 
prior  to  this  exercise  that  turnip  roots  penetrate  into  ground  a  shovel's  length.  Essex 
County  Agricultural  School. 

the  family,  given  away,  or  sold,  should  be  credited  to  the  projects 
at  current  retail  prices.  The  suggestive  outlines  in  Chapter  IV  in- 
clude questions  on  the  economic  elements  of  project  study. 

10.  Small  Fruit  Growing  Project  Study 
The  best  home  gardens  are  seldom  considered  complete  without 
an  abundant  supply  of  small  fruits,  such  as  blackberries,  raspberries, 
gooseberries,  currants,  and  strawberries.  Grapes,  also,  are  sometimes 
included.  The  small  fruits  are  often  found  in  the  same  inclosure 
with  the  garden  vegetables.  When  we  add  that  the  garden  is  generally 
most  convenient  if  located  near  the  house,  and  that  all  of  these  small 
fruits,  save  strawberries,  are  tall  or  moderately  high  growing,  we  have 


PROJECT  STUDY    VERSUS  SUBJECT  STUDY 


79 


said  about  all  about  them  that  can  be  said  in  general  for  assistance  in 
garden  planning. 

Farm  boys  are  more  or  less  familiar  with  the  above  facts.  Fol- 
lowing, therefore,  the  making  of  the  preliminary  garden  sketch, 
which  should  show  intention  to  grow  one  or  more  small  fruits,  the 
small  fruit  project  study  will  best  deal  with  individual  varieties,  and 
be  guided  by  outlines  like  those  suggested  for  varieties  of  vegetables. 


II. 


Beekeeping  Project  Study 

Beekeeping  is  an  interesting  and  profitable  side  line  in  well-bal- 
anced farming.  It  is  particularly  important  where  any  considerable 
attention  is  given  to  fruit  and  vegetable  growing.  It  is,  therefore,  a 
worthy  project  for  first  or  second  year  pupils. 

Every  agricultural  pupil  should  be  taught  the  importance  of  bees 
in  their  relations  to  economic  plants,  and  their  nature  and  possibil- 


FiG.  63.  — Identification,  comparison,  and  various  laboratory  as  well  as  field  tests  of  chem- 
icals used  in  home-mi.xing  fertilizers.  Note  folding  table.  Some  of  these  boys  now 
six-footers  and  holding  good  positions  as  e.\pert  gardeners;  one  of  them  is  an  expert 
dairyman.     North  Easton  .'\gricultural  Department. 

ities  as  economic  animals.     So  much  knowledge  is  included  in  the 
general  study  of  agriculture,  by  both  the  younger  and  the  older  pupils. 


8o 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


during  periods  set  apart  in  the  foregoing  diagrams  under  the  designa- 
tion "  Agricultural  Survey." 

Every  vocational  agricultural  school  and  department  should  own, 
work  with,  or  have  access  to  at  least  one  hive  of  bees.  Undoubtedly 
certain  pupils  will  desire  to  conduct  beekeeping  projects.  Project 
study  outlines  should  be  prepared  for  them,  and  should  cover  at  least 
the  first  two  of  the  three  kinds  of  project  knowledge  before  discussed. 


Fig.  64.  — Agricultural  classes  drilled  in  judging  home-grown  potatoes  by  use  of  score  card. 
Neither  land  nor  live-stock  at  thisschool.     Marlborough  Agricultural  Department. 

Since  pupils  are  not  to  be  required  to  conduct  projects  in  every 
field  covered  by  the  published  course  of  training,  beekeeping  may  be 
looked  upon  as  one  kind  of  project  from  which,  at  their  desire,  ori;^t 
the  discretion  of  the  instructor,  pupils  may  be  held  exempt. 

12.    Poultry  Keeping  Project  Study 
It  may  safely  be  urged  that  every  pupil  should  be  permitted,  and 

even  required,  to  conduct  a  poultry  project. 

Poultry  keeping  is  a  branch  of  production  found  on  every  farm 

and  at  many  village  homes;    yet  a  branch  from  which,  when  con- 


PROJECT   STUDY    VERSUS  SUBJECT   STUDY 


8l 


ducted  on  a  strictly  business  basis,  it  is  very  difficult  to  make  a 
profit.  It  has  to  do  with  farm  products  which  are  of  very  great  eco- 
nomic importance  for  the  advancement  of  agriculture  in  a  state  like 
Massachusetts,  which,  while  admirably  suited  to  poultry  keeping, 
imports  $25,000,000  of  poultry  and  eggs  annually,  and  produces  less 
than  $6,000,000  worth  per  year. 

Owing  to  the  attention  now  being  given  poultry  keeping  by  the 
agricultural  colleges  and' experiment  stations,  materials  for  teaching 


Fig.  65.  — New  kind  of  high  school  examination.  Naming  of  vegetable  seeds  mixed  and 
put  on  paper  plates.  Seeds  studied  for  shape,  color,  plumpness,  and  percentage  of 
germination.     Concord  Agricultural  Department. 

the  subject  scientifically  and  practically  are  increasing,  and  make 
this  one  of  the  most  promising  lines  of  project  instruction  for  school 
use. 

Poultry  keeping  affords  one  of  the  best  projects  for  transition  from 
the  boy's  treatment  of  animals  as  pet  stock,  to  his  treatment  of  them 
as  vital  factors  in  economic  agricultural  production. 

Project  study  outlines  of  the  sort  suggested  for  vegetable  growing 
will  be  just  as  necessary  here  as  elsewhere  for  the  proper  guidance  of 
the  poultry  project  pupils. 


82 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


13.    Sheep  and  Goat  Husbandry  Project  Study 

Sheep  and  goats  in  some  localities  are  matters  of  keen  interest  and 
economic  importance ;  in  other  localities  they  are  not. 

As  to  general  knowledge  and  possible  exemptions,  what  was  said 
of  beekeeping  should  apply  equally  here.  Projects  should  be  per- 
mitted when  strongly  desired ;  and,  when  permitted,  properly  guided 
by  appropriate  project  study  outHnes. 

14.    Swine  Husbandry  Project  Study 

Swine  husbandry  should,  probably,  in  most  cases,  be  ranked  as 
nearly  equal  in  importance  to  poultry  keeping,  —  perhaps  midway 


Fig.  00.— Asparagus  growing.  ■'School  project."  Pulling  in  new  plaiUalion.  Inttrc:,t- 
ing  study  in  vegetable  growing.  A  money-making  crop  in  some  parts  of  the  state. 
Smith  School,  Northampton. 


as  school  projects  between  poultry  keeping  and  beekeeping.  Proj- 
ects in  this  field  should  be  optional  with  the  individual  pupils.  Some 
knowledge  of  swine  husbandry  will  be  had  through  the  agricultural 
survey  study  and  its  attendant  trips  for  observation. 

Where  the  home  farm  conditions  are  at  all  favorable,  swine  projects 
should  be  urged,  and  outlines  for  their  proper  study  provided. 


PROJECT  STUDY    VERSUS  SUBJECT  STUDY  S^ 

15.    Ornamental  Planting  Project  Study 

Few  good  farmers  are  entirely  heedless  of  the  attractive  appearance 
of  their  farm  property  as  farm  homes.  Some  attention  should  be 
given  by  every  agricultural  pupil  to  such  ornamental  planting  as  is 
appropriate  under  reasonably  thrifty  farm  home  conditions.  During 
at  least  one  year  of  his  course,  along  with  his  utility  projects,  every  boy 
should  carry  a  project  devoted  to  the  beautif}ang,  in  at  least  some 
slight  measure,  of  his  home  surroundings.' 

Some  study  will  have  been  given  farm  home  attractiveness  during 
the  periods  devoted  to  the  "  agricultural  surv^ey."  Good  home  proj- 
ect work,  however,  will  be  as  dependent  here,  as  elsewhere,  upon 
project  study  outlines  carefully  adapted  to  each  pupil's  home  condi- 
tions. 

16.    Third-year  and  Fourth-year  Project  Study 

The  project  study  method  is  identical  for  all  years.  When,  there- 
fore, pupils  have  progressed  so  far  in  the  course  as  to  be  prepared  for 
it,  third-year  and  fourth-year  project  study  should  be  pro\aded  for 
in  the  manner  already  indicated.  Project  study  outlines  for  fruit 
growing,  including  orcharding,  should  be  drawn ;  outlines,  also,  for 
the  handling  of  certain  vegetables  from  the  market  gardener's  point  of 
view,  for  the  production  of  other  important  cash  crops,  and  for 
dealing  with  the  serious  problems  of  dairying. 

Every  advantage  in  this  outline  making  should  be  taken  of  the 
opportunities  thus  afforded  for  the  thorough  re\aewing  of  the  basal 
principles  of  plant  production  and  animal  management  already  dealt 
with  in  the  project  instruction  of  the  two  pre\aous  years.  This  re- 
viewing should  insure  a  consistent  and  closely  knit  body  of  knowledge 
supported  by  the  practical  applications  of  that  knowledge.  It  should 
also  make  it  possible  for  an  older  boy  who  has  had  good  farm  expe- 
rience to  enter  the  course  to  advantage  at  the  beginning  of  the  third, 
or  even  of  the  fourth,  year.  Particular  attention  in  the  senior  year 
should  be  given  to  the  study  and  application  of  the  principles  and 
methods  of  good  farm  management. 

1  List  of  ornamental  plants  successfully  used  at  Smith  Agricultural  School,  Northamp- 
ton, Mass. :   (Continued  on  pages  84-85.) 


84 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


The  field  of  study  one  year,  here,  as  earlier  in  the  course,  should  be 
restricted  to,  and  concentrated  upon,  plant  projects ;  and  the  next 
year  centered  upon  animal  projects. 

The  method  of  procedure  is  beUeved  to  have  been  elucidated  with 
sufiicient  clearness  in  the  foregoing  discussion  and  in  the  following 
chapter  containing  suggestive  project  study  outlines  for  vegetable 
growing,  so  that  its  application  to  third-year  and  fourth-year  project 
study  need  not  at  this  point  be  further  elaborated. 


17.    Project  Study  Perspective 

Looking  back,  now,  over  the  project  plan  of  vocational  agricultural 
education,  as  analyzed  and  expounded  in  the  present  discussion,  two 
facts  should  stand  out  in  clear  relief.  Certain  kinds  of  projects  are 
elective ;   others  are  prescribed. 


Marigolds  (African). 

Marigolds  (French). 

Zinnias. 

Nasturtiums. 

Calliopsis. 

Candytuft. 

Salpiglossis. 

Berberis  Thunbergii,  Japanese  barberry. 
Cornus  Siberica,  Red-twigged  dogwood. 
Forsylhia  suspensa,  Yellow  bells. 
Ligustrum  Regelaniim,  Kegel's  privet. 
Lonicera  Marram,  Morrow's  honeysuckle, 
Lonicera  lartarica,  Tartarian  honeysuckle 
Philadelphus  coronarius,  Syringa. 
Pyrus  Japonica,  Japanese  quince. 
Rhus  typhina,  Staghorn  sumach. 
Rhus  glabra.  Smooth  sumach. 


Annuals 

Centaurea. 

Eschscholtzia  (California  Poppy). 

Mignonette. 

Asters  (Semple's  Branching). 

Portulaca. 

Nicotiana. 

Shrubs 

Ribcs  aurcum,  Yellow  currant. 

Rosa  rugosa,  Japanese  rose. 

Sambucus  Canadensis,  Elderberry. 

Spirca  Von  Houtei. 

Spirea  Thunbergii. 

Spirea  callosa. 

Physocarpus  opulifoliiis,  Ninebark. 

Syringa  vulgaris,  Lilac. 

Viburnum  opulus.  High-bush  cranberry. 

A  ralia  spinosa,  Hercules  club. 


Hard  wood :  — 
Spirea  Von  Houtei. 
Spirea  Thunbergii. 
Syringa  vulgaris.  Lilac. 
Privets. 
Forsythia. 
Philadelphus  coronarius,  Syringa  or  Mock 

Orange. 


For  Cuttings 

Rhus  typhina,  and  glabra. 


Green :  — 
Geraniums. 
Salvia. 

Rex  begonias,  for  leaf  cuttings. 
Cannas,  tuber  cuttings. 


PROJECT   STUDY    VERSUS  SUBJECT   STUDY 


85 


(i)  "  Improvement  "  and  "  trial  "  projects  desirable.  —  The  proj- 
ects termed  "  improvement  "  and  "  trial  ^'  offer  excellent  incentives 
to  project  work  and 
to  project  study. 

The  first  may  con- 
tribute most  towards 
the  training  as  a  whole 
by  being  confined  to 
projects  which  appeal 
to,  and  tend  to  de- 
velop, the  pupil's 
sense  of  attractive- 
ness, order,  and  fit- 
ness, in  farm  home 
appointments  and 
surroundings.  These 
will  touch  his  pride. 

The    second    may 
make  its  best  contri- 
bution by  appealing 
to,  and  nurturing,  the  element  of  daring,  —  the  tendency  of  youth, 
even  at  some  economic  risk,  to  get  out  of  ruts.     Appropriate  projects 

Herbs 
Dill,  Thyme,  Lavender,  etc. 

Vines 

Cinnamon,  Virginia  Creeper,  Ampelopsis  tricttspida. 

Bulbs 
Indoor  forcing  and  outdoor  use : 

Narcissus.  Tulip 

Hyacinth 

Miss  S.  M.  Weed,  instructor  in  ornamental  planting  at  the  Smith  School,  North- 
ampton, several  years,  made  the  following  observations  regarding  the  above  lists : 

"Any  of  the  flowering  plants  listed  are  easily  grown  at  home.  Choice  and  range  of 
plants  for  home  gardening  depend  entirely  upon  the  resources  of  individual  pupils,  — 
amount  of  land  available,  location,  nature  of  soil,  etc.  An  assortment  of  from  si.x  to  ten 
varieties  is  about  the  number  most  profitably  cared  for  by  the  majority,  but,  as  I  have 
stated,  this  number  varies  greatly. 

"As  an  incentive  to  home  work  might  be  mentioned  starting  plants  at  school,  to  be  taken 
home  for  use  later.  Asters,  cosmos,  and  pansies  are  good  plants  to  use  in  this  way.  It  is 
also  an  advantage  to  have  on  hand  seeds  of  standard  quality  and  kind  which  pupils  may 
buy  from  the  school,  thus  insuring  the  use  of  good  seed." 


Fig.  67.  —  Agricultural  instructors  demonstrate  the  handiest 
ways  of  doing  work,  and  speed  up  the  work  by  setting  the 
pace.  Forking  manure  and  properly  preparing  land  for  a 
garden.    Hadley  .\gricultural  Department. 


86 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


for  the  second  are  to  be  found  by  following  the  best  leadership  in 
animal  and  plant  feeding,  in  plant  and  animal  breeding,  in  selection 
of  plant  and  animal  foundation  stock  in  the  light  of  comparative 
records  of  production,  and  the  like.  Such  projects  will  arouse  his 
courage. 

Both  will  have  pronounced  values  as  elements  of  vocational  agri- 
cultural education,  for  both  will  be  directly  aimed  toward  a  more 
favorable  farm  inventory  and  toward  considerably  increased  farm 


Fig.  68.  —  Class  exercise.     Making  their  first  hotbeds  at  the  school. 

Agricultural  Department. 


Hadley 


profits.  Both,  moreover,  may  be  made  to  contribute  almost  as  much 
to  community  as  to  private  betterment  and  well-being. 

(2)  Productive  projects  fundamental.  —  First  and  without  fail, 
however,  in  vocational  education,  should  come  the  projects  termed 
"  productive." 

The  scale  of  the  improvement  and  trial  projects  may  be  modest. 
The  scale  of  the  productive  projects  must  be  extended,  occupy  as  much 
as  possible  of  the  time,  and  engage  as  much  as  possible  of  the  energy 
of  the  pupil.  Entering  upon  a  productive  project  should  be  an  indi- 
cation of  the  pupil's  determination  to  go  just  as  far  as  he  can  in  any 


PROJECT  STUDY    VERSUS  SUBJECT  STUDY 


87 


given  year,  not  only  towards  learning  how  to  become  a  self-respecting 
and  self-supporting  producer  of  farm  products,  but  also  toward  put- 
ting that  knowledge  into  practice. 

Vocational  agricultural  education,  in  short,  means,  if  it  means 
anything,  the  constant  interworking  of  ideas  and  action.  It  means 
the  educational  unity  of  two  practically  simultaneous  processes,  the 
processes  of  earning  and  learning. 

The  logic  of  making  the  productive  projects  fundamental  is  the 
logic  of  life.     First,  man  must  provide  his  subsistence ;  next,  a  surplus 


Fig.  69. —  Farmers  and  schools  cooperate.  Boys  made  hotbed  Inuiu-  and  sash  at  the 
school.  Excavated  and  put  frame  in  place  on  farm  of  Mr.  Spooner,  who  paid  for  all 
materials.  Boys  then  made  their  own  hotbeds,  sash,  and  straw-mat  covers.  Brimfield 
Agricultural  Department. 

for  barter,  sale,  or  other  use.  Then  out  of  his  surplus  he  may  right- 
fully take  risks,  or  make  non-productive  investments  of  time  or  capital. 
And  this  holds  true  no  matter  how  slight  the  risk,  nor  how  modest 
the  non-productive  outlay. 

Happily,  projects  primarily  productive,  involving,  as  they  must 
do,  considerations  of  quality  no  less  than  those  of  quantity,  are  not 
without  vital  elements  of  training  in  attractiveness,  order,  and  fitness. 
Moreover,  the  boy's  success  in  his  enterprises  aimed  at  profit  is  more 
than  likely  to  be  directly  proportionate  to  his  daring  enlistment  under 
the  leadership  of  the  newer  agriculture.     Productive  projects  alone, 


88 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


therefore,  may  contribute  to  the  education  of  the  pupil  something  of 
those  elements  which  are  the  more  direct  aims  of  projects  termed 
"  trial  "  and  "  improvement." 

The  agricultural  instructor,  in  approving  projects  to  be  undertaken 
by  his  pupils,  will,  therefore,  make  no  mistake.  His  primary  concern 
must  be  vocational  agricultural  education  through  productive  proj- 
ects. Productive  projects  may,  in  any  given  year,  and  at  a  pinch  in 
all  years,  be  taught  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others.  "  Improvement  " 
and  "  trial  "  projects,  where  found  feasible,  are  desirable.  "Produc- 
tive "  projects  are  fundamental. 

18.   Project  Study  versus  Subject  Study 

Critics,  familiar  with  the  curricula  and  methods  of  teaching  com- 
mon to  most  public  schools  of  secondary  grade,  have  remarked  a 
radical  difference  of  method  between  subject  teaching  and  teaching 

by  projects.  Fear  has  oc- 
casionally been  expressed 
that  the  project  innovation 
in  educational  methods 
may,  apart  from  the  skill 
it  gives,  result  in  putting 
the  pupil  in  possession  of 
merely  a  more  or  less  in- 
coherent collection  of 
knowledge  fragments. 

(i)  Subject  study. 
A.  Organized  knowledge. 
—  Subject  study,  it  is 
urged,  puts  the  pupil  in 
possession  of  coherent 
bodies  of  organized  knowl- 
edge. Subject  study, 
moreover,  it  is  pointed  out,  so  far,  at  least,  as  it  is  of  the  more 
modern  type,  takes  into  account  the  environment  of  the  pupil ;  and 
the  practical  bearings  of  his  education,  so  far  as  it  has  any,  are 
thus  made  plain  to  his  understanding.     Subject  study  stops  short 


Fig.  70.  —  "Pricking  out"  lettuce.  Tricks  of  the 
farmer's  trade  taught  in  the  different  operations 
covered  by  the  agricultural  courses.  Hadley  Agri- 
cultural Department. 


PROJECT   STUDY    VERSUS  SUBJECT    STUDY 


89 


at   this  point.     For  applied   knowledge  as   such   it  recognizes    no 
responsibility. 

B.  Deferred  values.  —  Having  been  schooled  in  terminology  and 
principles,  also  in  orderly  and  efficient  habits  of  reasoning,  and  having 
been  led  to  make  certain  laboratory  and  other  observations  as  to  the 
applications  of  principles  in  the  work-a-day  world,  the  pupil  must 
then  be  trusted  to  develop  efficiency  on  his  own  account  in  one  or 
another  field  of  applied  knowledge.  The  principal  values  properly 
to  be  expected  from  subject  study,  therefore,  have  been  termed  "  de- 
ferred values." 

C.  Agriculture  and  subject  study.  —  Agriculture  has  generally 
been  taught  by  the  subject  method.^  A  part  of  the  farm  boy's  year, 
usually  the  summer,  has 
been  spent  on  his  home 
farm ;  another  part  of  the 
year,  usually  the  winter, 
or  the  months  of  the  cus- 
tomary school  year,  has 
been  spent,  in  most  cases 
at  a  considerable  distance 
from  his  home  farm,  at 
the  agricultural  school  or 
college.  In  the  former, 
his  attention  has  been  de- 
voted to  productive  agri- 
culture ;  in  the  latter,  to  agriculture  as  more  or  less  divided  bodies 
of  organized  knowledge. 

'  Following  is  the  list  of  subjects  found  in  the  undergraduate  course  of  training  once 
prescribed,  by  one  of  the  most  prominent  agricultural  colleges,  for  prospective  teachers  of 
agriculture.  With  the  subjects  are  given  the  hours  required  for  each.  The  baleful  sig- 
nificance of  this  list  is  found  in  the  tendency  for  beginners  in  teaching  to  be  imitative,  to 
try  to  teach  the  same  subjects  by  the  very  same  methods  by  which  they  themselves  have 
been  taught. 

Thermatology 
Botany     .     . 
Chemistry 
Entomology 
Zoology   .     . 


Fig.  71.  —  Rows  must  be  straight  and  accurately 
spaced.  Sower  must  be  properly  adjusted  to  size 
and  kind  of  seed.    Hadley  Agricultural  Department. 


Agronomy       21 

Animal  husbandry  .  ...  if 
Dairy  husbandry  ....  f 
Horticulture  .... 
Secondary  school  agriculture 


IS 
6 


6 

15 

5 


English 
Rhetoric 
Economics 
Education 
Librarj'  science 


90  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

D.  The  unaided  farm  boy.  —  To  the  farm  boy  himself,  alone  and 
unaided  by  the  supervision  of  his  agricultural  instructors,  has  been 
left  the  educational  task,  well-nigh  impossible,  under  such  circum- 
stances, of  bringing  these  elements  of  his  experience  —  one  concrete 


Fig    72   -Mechanism  of  farm  and  garden  machines  carefully  studied.     This  sower  is  ' 
lent  to  pupils  who  lack  such  labor-saving  equipment.     North  Easton  Agricultural  De- 
partment. 

the  other  abstract  —  into  efficient  relations,  whether  for  purposes  of 
intelligent  understanding  or  for  purposes  of  economic  returns,  with 
the  result  that  the  anticipated  values  of  such  subject  study  have  too 
often  been  deferred  indefinitely. 

E.  Education  in  forgetting.  Judging  from  the  experience  of  many 
pupils,  and  among  the  number  not  a  few  who  have  gone  on  to  college, 
much  secondary  education  by  the  subject  method  might  justly  enough 
be  called  "  education  in  forgetting."  In  fact,  it  has  sometimes  been 
argued  that  the  educational  process,  as  a  process,  as  a  means  of  develop- 
ing mental  alertness,  acuteness,  and  power,  is  the  main  concern  of  the 
subject  study  method ;  that  the  forgetting  is  to  be  expected,  is  not  to 
be  too  much  deplored. 


PROJECT   STUDY    VERSUS   SUBJECT   STUDY  01 

The  structure  and  habits  of  the  human  mind  and  brain  are  such 
that,  following  the  psychological  laws  of  segmentation,  unused  knowl- 
edge tends  to  be  "  forgotten."  Much,  a  vast  deal,  of  the  subject 
matter  dealt  with  by  the  subject  study  method  is  of  such  a  nature 
that  in  out-of-school  hours  and  in  after-school  years  it  remains  unused. 


Fig.  73.  —  Tank  filled  with  water.  Local  soils  in  glass  tubes.  Rate  at  which  water  rises 
and  saturates  soil  in  each  tube  noted,  and  rates  for  the  different  types  compared. 
Other  tests  for  rates  of  percolation,  water-holding  capacity,  and  evaporation.  North 
Easton  Agricultural  Department. 

To  the  extent  that  it  remains  unused,  its  forgetting,  save  by  minds 
supported  by  the  most  unusual  brain  substance,  is  inevitable. 
Whether  to  be  deplored,  therefore,  or  not,  it  has  over  and  over  again 
been  observed,  that  examinations  once  passed  and  the  school  year 
ended,  subjects  are  forgotten. 


02 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


F.  Subject  study  merits.  —  For  the  training  of  the  so-called  "  ab- 
stract-minded "  boy,  of  the  boy  naturally  gifted  with  a  retentive 
cerebral  organism,  and  of  the  boy  who  is  to  follow  a  professional  as 
distinguished  from  a  productive  career,  the  subject  study  method 
must  be  conceded  appreciable  merits ;  and  these  merits  become  the 
more  pronounced  and  permanent  in  proportion  as  the  method, 
in  its  dealing  with  materials  and  principles,  is  strongly  inductive. 


Fig.  74.  —  Project  of  Joseph  Powell,  16,  a  city  boy.  Never  had  hoe  in  hand  until  1914. 
Note  his  straight  rows  and  clean  cultivation.  Best  garden  at  that  date  seen  by  state 
supervisor.     City  boys  can  learn  farming.     Bristol  County  Agricultural  School. 

(2)  Project  study.  A.  Accompanied  by  subject  study.  —  Merits 
conceded  subject  study,  however,  are  not  to  be  subtracted  from  the 
total  merits  of  vocational  education.  The  education  of  the  boy  who 
desires  a  vocational  agricultural  diploma  includes,  as  we  have  seen, 
the  subject  study  of  EngUsh,  history,  civics,  botany,  chemistry,  and 
general  "agricultural  survey  "  study  of  such  subjects  as  soils,  tillage, 
and  crop  rotation.  That  this  subject  study  does  not  precede,  but 
accompanies,  or  follows,  the  boy's  project  study,  directly  and  decidedly 
enhances  its  value. 


PROJECT  STUDY    VERSUS   SUBJECT   STUDY 


93 


B.  Organization  of  common  sense.  (A)  Induction  and  applica- 
tion. —  But  project  study  has  merits  peculiarly  its  ov/n.  No  more 
diligent  or  effective  application  of  the  inductive  method  in  education 
has  ever  been  witnessed  than  that  proposed,  and  in  good  measure 
already  practiced,  by  the  project  study  of  agriculture.  The  educa- 
tional cycle  is  not  left  open,  but  is  here  completed.  The  movement, 
from  observed  data  of  agricultural  production  to  general  laws  and 


Fig.  75.  —  Joseph  Powell's  project  again.  Potatoes  in  bloom.  Kept  free  from  bugs  and 
blight  by  careful  spraying.  Had  never  before  seen  a  "potato-bug."  Part  of  §  acre 
garden  project  at  school.  Accounts  well  kept.  Valuable  experience,  plus  S174.12  farm 
earnings.     Now  a  graduate  and  farming.     Bristol  County  Agricultural  School. 

principles,  is  followed  by  the  reverse  movement,  which  is  embodied 
in  the  application  of  the  laws  and  principles  of  science,  embodied,  that 
is  to  say,  in  economic  agricultural  enterprises  conducted  by  the  pupils 
on  their  home  farms  under  competent  school  supervision. 

(B)  Personal  economic  interest  at  stake.  —  Mr.  Huxley's  favorite 
definition  of  science  is  understood  to  have  been  "  organized  common 
sense."  The  project  study  method  consists,  not  so  much  of  the  con- 
ning of   "  science  "  already  organized  and  brought  to  the  bovs  in 


94 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


IS 


books,  as  it  consists  of  the  actual  organization  anew  of  the  common 
sense  required  for  successfully  controlling  the  personal  affairs  and  eco- 
nomic fortunes  of  the  pupils  themselves.  The  "  career  motive  '" 
here  dominant,  inspiring,  compelling.  Upon  the  organization  of  com- 
mon sense  is  put  a  strong,  personal  premium. 

(C)    Natural  versus  artificial  units.  —  The  units  of  project  study 
are  not  the  units  of  another  man's  career  nor  of  another  man's  book. 


Fig.  76.  —  Both  hand  work  and  horse  work  taught  each  boy. 

Agricultural  School. 


Bristol  County 


They  may,  nevertheless,  consist  of  findings  from  many  sources,  in- 
cluding picked  careers  and  selected  books. 

Olericulture  may  be  made  a  subject  study ;  so,  also,  may  chemistry. 
Rarely,  however,  does  the  subject  study  of  chemistry,  for  example, 
include  all  of  chemistry.     The  limits  set  are  arbitrary. 

The  lettuce  crop  to  be  produced  by  the  pupil  in  a  given  year  is  a 
project  study  unit.  As  such  it  requires  mastery  of  certain  portions 
of  both  olericulture  and  chemistry.  The  requirements  for  producing 
the  crop  under  the  known  home  conditions  mark  the  Hmits  of  this 
unit.  These  hmifs  are  not  artificial;  they  are  natural.  The  kinds  of 
knowledge  to  be  gained  have  been  indicated  above  by  the  suggested 


PROJECT   STUDY    VERSUS   SUBJECT   STUDY 


95 


tj  _: 


96  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

contents  of  the  boy's  project  study  record.  The  boy's  knowledge 
may  be  complete  for  its  purpose,  —  an  organized  unit,  a  body  well 
articulated  and  thoroughly  comprehended. 

The  project  method  deals  with  natural  units.  By  this  method  the 
boy's  common  sense  is  focused,  clarified,  and  put  directly  to  important 
economic  tests. 

(D)  Project  study  units  and  pure  science  data.  —  Project  study, 
moreover,  will  probably  prove  to  be  one  of  the  most  effective  means 
of  accumulating  first-hand  data  for  the  successful  study  of  science  as 
science.  The  lettuce  plant,  for  example,  thrives  best  in  almost  any 
garden  soil  when  fed  freely  one  particular  kind  of  plant  food,  namely, 
nitrogen.  The  pupil  must,  therefore,  know  this  raw  material  of  chem- 
istry, not  at  the  outset  in  its  every  form  and  use,  but  in  the  special 
form  best  suited  to  the  needs  of  the  lettuce  plant.  He  may  learn  to 
think  and  speak  of  it  by  the  symbol  the  chemist  has  assigned  it.  That 
symbol  will,  then,  have  been  learned  once  for  all.  Later,  in  other 
project  study,  he  will  learn  more  about  nitrogen  in  its  relations  to 
productive  agriculture.  One  by  one,  if  wisely  taught,  he  will  simi- 
larly come  to  know  other  elements  of  plant  or  animal  food,  together 
with  their  symbols.  He  will  come  to  know  them  in  an  intimate,  per- 
sonal way,  by  name  and  symbol,  by  appearance  and  action. "  All 
this  will  surely  be  gain,  and  not  loss,  if  later  the  boy  has  opportunity 
to  study  these  chemicals  in  their  more  general  relations. 

(E)  Education  in  remembering.  —  The  knowledge  which  is  the  boy's 
quest  in  project  study  is  knowledge  of  which  he  sees  the  need.  Being 
needed  year  by  year,  it  will,  year  by  year,  be  recalled.  Used  again 
and  again,  added  to,  modified  and  exactly  applied,  it  will  tend  to  be 
distinctly  remembered. 

If  unused  knowledge  tends  to  be  forgotten,  the  converse  is  most 
emphatically  true.  Used  knowledge  tends  to  be  remembered.  The 
primary  pursuit  of  project  study  as  the  accompaniment  of  project 
work  is  the  organization  of  definite  and  coherent  bodies  of  knowledge 
which  the  recurrent  seasons  will  naturally  and  of  necessity  call  into  use. 
Forgetting  here  is  a  hindrance.    If  it  occurs,  it  is  not  a  virtue  but  a  fault. 

In  short,  the  organization  of  common  sense  by  the  project  study 
method  is  not  education  in  forgetting ;  it  is  education  in  remembering. 


PROJECT   STUDY    VERSUS  SUBJECT   STUDY 


97 


(F)  Traditions  of  success  versus  traditions  of  defeat.  —  Educators 
and  public-spirited  people  in  general  are  gravely  concerned  over  the 
yearly  exodus  from  school  of  the  army  of  children  whose  schooling 
is  halted  the  moment  the  fourteenth  birthday  is  reached.  But  why 
should  they  not  go  out? 

In  a  vast  proportion  of  cases  their  lot  in  school  has  been  far 
from   happy.      The   "  bookish  "    boy  has   been,   and   may  always 


Fig.  78.  — Joseph  Powell  helping  set  up  corn  harvester  which  had  been  bought  "knocked 
down."  Did  gardening  largely  morning  and  evening,  so  eager  was  he  to  round  out  his 
experience  with  every  seasonal  operation  on  the  farm.  Not  a  hired  man  on  this  farm. 
Boys  and  their  instructors  make  farm  practice  square  with  classroom  teaching.  Bristol 
County  Agricultural  School. 

be,  the  exception  and  not  the  rule.  Taught  by  one  sort  or 
another  of  subject  study  method,  and  failing  to  see,  much  less 
to  feel,  direct  relationship  between  what  they  have  studied  and 
what  they  are  likely  to  be  and  do  in  life,  too  many  have  "  failed 
in  their  studies."  Their  school  traditions  have  been  traditions 
of  defeat. 

If  anything  can  efface  the  depressing  memory  of  such  traditions, 
by  establishing  traditions  of  school  success,  it  is  believed  that  the 


98  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 

project  method  of  vocational  education  can  do  it.     And  probably  no 
field  for  this  is  more  favorable  than  that  of  agriculture. 

Boys,  especially  farm  boys,  like  the  open.  They  are  curious  about 
plants  and  animals.  They  readily  come  to  know  them.  They  like 
to  possess  them.  When  school  begins  in  the  open  and  ends  there; 
when  in  the  schoolroom  are  found  undreamed-of  guide  books  to  more 
wonderful  and  intimate  understanding  of  the  already  familiar  objects 
of  the  open  ;  most  of  all,  when  the  school  teacher  meets  the  boy  where 
his  interest  is  keenest,  and  shows  him  how  to  turn  his  possessions,  or 
those  of  his  father,  to  better  economic  account,  —  then  schooling  be- 
comes a  new  experience  to  the  boy.  It  becomes  part  of  his  life,  not 
something  apart  from  it.  Traditions  of  success  in  school  become 
possible  of  attainment.  They  become  for  the  majority  inevitable. 
Than  this,  project  study,  perhaps,  can  hope  to  achieve  no  finer  result. 


CHAPTER   IV 

ILLUSTRATIVE  PROJECT    STUDY    OUTLINES    APPLIED    TO 
VEGETABLE   GROWING 


I.    Project  Study  Outline  Making  in  Massachusetts 

Of  admirable  agricultural  textbooks,  reference  books,  bulletins, 
reports,  papers,  and  periodicals,  there  is  now  almost  a  superabun- 
dance, and  the  supply  is  steadily  growing. 

The  principal  problems,  therefore,  of  the  agricultural  instructor, 
responsible  for  putting  into  effect    the  project  plan  of  vocational 


Fig.  7g.  — Project  vicissitudes.  Clarence  Goodnow,  i6,  planted  J  acre  muskmelons,  May 
25-26.  Cutworms  and  dry  weather  killed  them.  Replanted  June  8.  Sept.  8  splendid 
crop  fast  maturing.  Vines  killed  by  unseasonable  frost,  Sept.  9.  Looked  "  like  a  field  of 
cannon  balls,"  he  said.  Paid  for  labor  but  no  profit.  But  like  most  of  the  boys  he 
had  other  projects.  His  total  earnings  from  farm  work  that  year  were  S227.75.  Peter- 
sham Agricultural  Department. 

agricultural  education,  are  the  problems  of  making  selected  portions  of 
this  literature  available  for  his  particular  boys  and  their  particular 

99 


lOO 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


projects,  and  of  establishing  habits  of  study  which  make  consultation 
of  many  authorities  both  natural  and  rewarding. 

The  present  chapter  discusses  but  one  field  of  agricultural  project 
instruction,  and  this  with  special  reference  to  the  work  and  study  of 
first  or  second  year  pupils.  It  suggests  outlines  following  which  the 
pupils  may  prepare  themselves  directly  for  their  work  and, at  the  same 


Fig.  8o.  —  Orin  Butcher,  ig.  Has  curvature  of  spine.  Had  been  out  of  school.  In  best 
health  when  much  in  open.  Permitted  to  take  agriculture  part  time.  Worked  ^'j  acre. 
Income  before  taking  course,  S33 ;  first  year  of  course,  $59-30.  What  rate  is  this  per 
acre  ?  Continued  study.  Bought  more  land,  on  which  he  is  now  a  gardener  and  poultry 
man.     Concord  Agricultural  Department. 

time  be  taught  how  to  gain  information  from  all  sorts  of  reference 
authorities. 

These  outlines  have  proved  to  be  useful  models.  They  show  the 
economy  in  outUne  making  of  using  numerals  instead  of  titles  for 
references.  The  heavy-faced  numerals  are  the  numbers  assigned  to 
certain  titles  in  the  "  Agricultural  Project  Study  Bibliography," 
which  was  pubhshed  by  the  Board  of  Education  in  191 2  as  Bulletin 


ILLUSTRATIVE   PROJECT   STUDY  OUTLINES  lOl 

•No.  lo,  and  which,  with  later  accessions,  appears  here  as  Chapter  V. 
The  numerals  in  lighter-faced  type  refer  to  pages. 

The  numbers  assigned  the  titles  were  adopted  by  all  the  vocational 
agricultural  libraries  in  the  state.  This  has  made  all  subsequent 
outlines  interchangeable  and  serviceable  throughout  the  system. 

Outhnes  modeled  after  those  in  this  chapter  and  applied  to  all  of 
the  other  fields  of  project  study  have  been  prepared  by  the  agricultural 
instructors  in  Massachusetts.  Most  of  these  are  in  typewritten  or 
mimeographed  form.  To  accelerate  this  work  among  the  more  ex- 
perienced men  and  to  forward  the  work  of  beginners  in  teaching,  two 
bulletins  containing  project  study  outhnes  adapted  to  first  and  second 
year  pupils  were  proposed.  There  was  collaboration  and  a  fine  spirit  of 
rivalry.  The  outlines  grew  out  of  day-to-day  requirements.  They 
were  on  the  spot  products  of  efforts  everywhere  in  Massachusetts  to 
make  project  study  and  project  work  interlock. 

Bulletin  No.  28,  127  pages,  printed  in  1913,  contained  outhnes  on 
growing  and  stud}dng: 

Beans  Celery  Parsnips  Rhubarb 

Beets  Cucumbers  Peas  Spinach 

Cabbages  Melons  Potatoes  Sweet  Corn 

Carrots  Onions  Radishes  Tomatoes 

The  author  edited  the  outhnes,  and  at  the  head  of  each  gave  credit 
to  the  contributors.     Followang  is  an  example  of  such  credit : 

"  In  this  project  study  outhne  "  on  potato  growing  "  are  incorpo- 
rated the  questions  and  references  prepared  by  five  instructors  for  their 
work  with  vocational  agricultural  pupils  in  191 2-1 91 3,  as  follows : 

Mr.  Thomas  Bradlee,  Northampton  ....  228  questions,  251  references 

Mr.  J.  Coryell,  North  Easton 174  questions,  220  references 

Mr.  J.  G.  Powers,  North  Easton 145  questions,  172  references 

Mr.  L.  B.  Boston,  Petersham 148  questions,  168  references 

Mr.  E.  J.  Burke,  Hadley 74  questions,  81  references 

"  Bulletin  No.  36,  139  pages,  was  prepared  in  a  similar  manner  and 
was  printed  in  1914.  It  consisted  of  poultry  project  study  outlines 
on  production  and  sale  of : 

Chicks  Roasters  Turkeys 

Broilers  Breeders  Ducks 

Fryers  Eggs  Geese " 


I02 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


To  it  seven  agricultural  instructors  contributed  as  follows : 

Mr.  L.  B.  Boston,  Petersham 231  questions,   186  references 

Mr  Thomas  Bradlee,  Northampton  ....  249  questions,  204  references 

Mr.  J.  Coryell,  North  Easton 189  questions,  207  references 

Mr.  A.  W.  Doolittle,  Concord 321  questions,  841  references 

Mr.  J.  H.  Fay,  Northborough 402  questions,  349  references 

Mr.  J.  G.  Powers,  North  Easton   .     .     .   ■•     •  566  questions,  514  references 

Mr.  Milton  S.  Rose,  Harwich 357  questions,  870  references 

2.   Vegetable  Growing  Project  Study  Outlines 
In  project  study  outline  making,  the  agricultural  instructor  must 
weigh,  balance,  and  determine  many  practical  and  scientific  matters. 
What'  number  of  vegetables  may  a  first  or  second  year  boy  safely 


Fig.  81.  —  Village  boy's  back  yard  before  studying  agriculture  in  igi4.     See  Fig.  82. 


undertake  to  grow?  How,  and  in  what  order,  should  the  vegetables 
he  grows  be  studied?  These  problems  are  dealt  with  in  the  follow- 
ing discussion. 

(i)    Project   study   and   vegetable  groups.      A.    Possible   classifi- 
cations. —  A   careful   study   of   the  botanical   characteristics,  uses, 


ILLUSTRATIVE  PROJECT  STUDY  OUTLINES 


103 


and  methods  of  cultivation  of  any  considerable  number  of  varieties 
of  vegetables  will  disclose  the  fact  that  vegetables  naturally  fall 
into  different  groups,  each  distinct  in  important  respects  from 
others. 

Vegetables  have  been  classified  by  their  food  parts  under  such 
headings  as  the  following :  "  Roots  we  eat,"  "  Leaves  we  eat,"  "  Seeds 
and  seed  pods  we  eat."  To  these  three  groups  might  be  added,  "Plants 
we  grow  for  garnishes." 

Vegetables  have  been  classified,  also,  according  to  the  date  of 
planting  or  earliness  of  maturity  in  the  open,  as,  "  first  early,"  "sec- 
ond early,"  "  third  early,"  "  fourth  early,"  or  "  late." 

Again,  vegetables  have  been  classified  according  to  certain  botanical 
characteristics.  Under  this  classification  "early"  and  "late  "  vege- 
tables may  be  found  in  the  same  group ;   also,  vegetables  in  a  given 


Fig.  82.  —  Same  boy's  back  yard  while  studying  agriculture  in  1914.  Had  4  acre  in 
vegetables  on  other  land.  Now  a  student  at  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College. 
North  Easton  Agricultural  Department. 

group,  as,  for  example,  those  of  the  parsnip  family  (  U mbelliferce) , 
may  differ  radically  as  to  their  food  parts,  and  run  from  roots  we  eat 
to  edible  leaves  and  seeds.     The  parsnip  family  includes  even  the 


I04 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


most  important  garnish  plant.     Our  garden  herbs  and  vegetables 
belong  to  at  least  seventeen  plant  families. 

B.  Possible  varieties.  —  The  following  varieties  of  vegetables  were 
found  to  have  been  successfully  grown  in  Massachusetts  home 
gardens,  and  are  among  those  which  in  this  state  are  suitable  for 
project  work  and  related  study.  The  arrangement  is  alphabetic, 
and  throws  no  light  upon  choice  of  preferred  varieties  where 
two  or  more  varieties  are  given. 


Asparagus : 

Giant  Argenteuil. 

Palmetto. 
Beans,  green: 

Bountiful. 

Burpee's  Stringless. 

Burpee's  Stringless  Green-pod. 

Early  Red  Valentine. 
Beans,  pole : 

.\rlington  Red  Cranberry. 

Dreer's  Improved  Pole  Lima. 
Beans,  shell : 

Dwarf  Horticultural. 
Beans,  wax : 

Golden  Queen  Wax. 

Refugee. 

Wardwell's  Kidney  Wax. 
Beets : 

Crosby  Egyptian. 

Detroit  Dark  Red. 

Eclipse. 

Edmand's. 
Cabbage : 

All  Seasons. 

Curled  Savoj'. 

Danish  Ballhead. 

Jersey  Wakefield. 
Carrot : 

Danvers  Half  Long. 
Cauliflower : 

Snowball. 

Dwarf  Erfurt 


Celery : 

Giant  Pascal. 

Paris  Golden. 
Corn : 

Cory. 

Country  Gentleman. 

Golden  Bantam. 

Quincy  Market. 

Stowell's  Evergreen. 
Cucumber : 

Arhngton  White  Spine. 

Davis  Perfect. 
Dandelion : 

Improved  French  Thick  leaved. 
Eggplant : 

Black  Beauty. 

New  York  Improved. 
Endive : 

Broad-leaved  Batavian. 

Green  Curled. 
Kohl-rabi : 

Early  White  Vienna. 
Leek: 

Carentan. 
Lettuce : 

Black  Seeded  Simpson. 

Black  Seeded  Tennis   Ball  or   Big 
Boston. 

Deacon. 

Salamander. 
Muskmelon : 

Emerald  Gem. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  PROJECT  STUDY  OUTLINES 


105 


Miller's  Cream. 

Rocky  Ford. 
Onions : 

Yellow  Globe  Danvers. 
Parsley : 

Arlington  Double  Curled. 
Parsnips : 

Abbott  Hollow  Crown. 
Peas : 

Gradus. 

Gregory's  Excelsior. 

Surprise. 

Telephone. 
Pepper : 

Ruby  King. 

Sweet  Mountain. 
Potatoes : 

Green  Mountain. 

Irish  Cobbler. 
Radish : 

Early  Scarlet  Globe. 
.     French  Breakfast. 


Rhubarb : 

Linnaeus. 

Victoria. 
Salsify : 

Mammoth  Sandwich  Island. 
Spinach : 

Long  Standing. 

Round  Thick  Leaf. 

Savoy-leaved. 
Squash : 

Crookneck. 

Early  Prolific  Marrow. 

Hubbard. 
Tomato : 

Bonny  Best. 

Chalk's  Early  Jewel. 

Earliana. 

Stone. 
Turnip: 

American  Rutabaga. 

Early  Milan. 

White  Egg. 


C.  Classification  by  methods  of  cultivation.  —  The  following  clas- 
sification of  the  foregoing  varieties  of  vegetables  is  based  on  essential 
methods  of  cultivation  and  will  probably  best  serve  the  purposes  of 
project  study. ^ 

Class  I.     Annual  Vegetables. 

Sub-class  I.     Crops  grown  for  Subterranean  Parts. 
Group  I.     Root  Crops. 
Beet,  Beta  vulgaris. 
Carrot,  Daticus  carol  a. 
Parsnip,  Pastinaca  saliva. 
Radish,  Raphaniis  salivus. 
Salsify,  Tragopogon  porrifolius . 
Turnip  and  rutabaga,  Brassica. 
Group  2.     Tuber  Crops. 

Potato,  Solanum  luhcrosum. 

•  The  outlines  of  this  classification  had  been  proposed  a  decade  before  in  "Principles  of 
Vegetable  Gardening,"  pp.  240-242,  by  Prof.  L.  H.  Bailey,  and  had  been  followed  in  one 
of  the  latest  studies  of  the  subject,  "Vegetable  Gardening,"  191 2,  pp.  196-109,  by  Prof. 
R.  L.  Watts. 


lo6  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

Group  3.     Bulb  Crops. 

Onion,  Allium  Ccpa,  A.  fistulosum. 

Leek,  A.  Porriim. 
Sub-class  II.     Crops  grown  for  Foliage  Parts. 
Group  4.     Cole  Crops. 

Cabbage,  B.  oleracea. 

Cauliflower,  B.  oleracea. 

Kohl-rabi,  B.  oleracea. 
Group  5.     Pot-herb  Crops  (used  for  "  Greens  "). 

Spinach,  Spinacca  dcracca. 

Beet,  Beta  vulgaris. 

Dandelion,  Taraxacum  officinale.^ 
Group  6.     Salad  Crops. 

Lettuce,  Lacluca  saliva. 

Endive,  Cichorium  Endivia. 

Celery,  Apium  graveolens. 

Parsley,  Carunt  Petroselinum. 
Sub-class  III.     Crops  grown  for  Fruit  or  Seed  Parts. 
Group  7.     Pulse  Crops. 

Bean,  Phaseolus,  Dolichos,  Vicia. 

Pea,  Pisum  sativum. 
Group  8.     Solanaceous  Crops. 

Tomato,  Lycopcrsicum  csculcnlum. 

Eggplant,  Solatium  Melongena. 

Pepper,  Capsicum  anuuum. 
Group  9.     Cucurbitous  or  Vine  Crops. 

Cucumber,  Cucumis  sativus. 

Melon,  C.  Mclo. 

Squash,  Cucurbita. 
Group  10.     Corn. 

Sweet  corn,  Zea  Mays. 
Class  II.     Perennial  Vegetables. 

Asparagus,  Asparagus  officinalis. 

Rhubarb,  Rheum  Rhaponticum. 

D.  Varieties  of  vegetables  per  pupil.  (A)  Desirable  range.  — 
Glancing  over  the  above  list  B  and  classification  C,  embracing  some 
Seventy-five  varieties  and  eleven  groups,  it  appeared  to  be  desirable 
that  each  boy  should  grow  and  study  at  least  one  variety  from  each 

'  This  is  a  perennial,  but  when  grown  in  a  garden  does  not  occupy  a  given  piece  of  ground 
more  than  a  year. 


ILLUSTRATIVE   PROJECT   STUDY  OUTLINES 


107 


P"iG.  S3.  —  Wilson  Walker,  16.  "Improvement"  project 
and  "productive"  project  combined.  Grandfather 
agreed  to  give  him  use  of  this  field  for  vegetable  grow- 
ing if  he  would  clear  it  of  rock.  Sold  240  tons  to  city 
crusher.  Got  cash  enough  to  pay  for  team  work  and 
dynamite.     See  Fig.  84. 


group.  The  least  num- 
ber of  varieties  dealt 
with  would  then  be 
eleven ;  and,  within  cer- 
tain groups,  would  per- 
mit of  a  considerable 
range  of  choice  to  suit 
the  tastes  of  the  boy  or 
the  likings  of  his  family. 
(B)  Surplus  for  sale. 
—  To  test  his  results  by 
the  strictest  commercial 
standards,  each  boy,  in 
addition  to  growing  cer- 
tain varieties  of  vegeta- 
bles in  sufficient  quantity 
to  supply  the  summer  and  winter  needs  of  his  family,  it  was  believed 
should  be  encouraged,  if  not  required,  to  grow  at  least  one  variety 
on  such  an  extended  scale  as  to  yield  a  surplus  for  sale.     If  his 

family  were  in  modest 
circumstances,  and 
could  only  allow  him 
credit  at  current  prices 
for  vegetables  produced 
for  home  use,  his  sur- 
plus might  make  his 
biggest  crop  his  only 
cash  crop.  It  cannot 
be  doubted  that  the 
prospect  of  cash  re- 
turns has  been  a  most 
powerful  incentive  to 
competent,  persistent, 
and  intelligent  project 
work  and  project 
study. 


Fig.  84.  —  Part  of  same  field  shown  in  Fig.  83  .same  year. 
Spraying  potatoes.  Carrots  and  other  vegetables  on 
rest  of  field.  Paid  himself  for  labor,  at  2off  an  hour, 
$93.90.  Net  profit,  $140.11.  Total  project  returns, 
$244.01.  Entire  earnings  from  this  and  other  farm 
work  in  1914,  while  doing  excellent  work  in  high  school, 
$337.11.     Marlborough  .'Agricultural  Department. 


io8 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


(C)  Experience  as  a  guide.  —  Of  course  there  is  great  variation  in 
capacity  for  fruitful  study  and  competent  garden  work;  but  even 
children  under  fourteen  have  successfully  produced  in  school  garden 
work  more  than  a  half-dozen  varieties  of  vegetables;  and  boys  of 
secondary  school  age,  when  giving  only  part  of  their  time  to  such  work, 

have  produced,  with 
clean  culture  and  profit- 
able results,  fully  twice 
as  many. 

(D)  Judgment  of  the 
instructor.  —  It  is  evident 
that  the  number  of  vari- 
eties per  pupil  must  be 
left  to  the  instructor. 
He  must  exercise  his  best 
judgment  in  approving 
the  number,  as  well  as 
the  sorts,  of  vegetables 
to  be  grown. ^ 

Where  individuals  have  little  or  no  preference  as  to  the  variety 
within  a  given  group,  one  pupil  may  be  assigned  one  variety,  other 
pupils  the  other  varieties.  Where  there  is  school  land,  varieties  not 
chosen  for  home  growing  may  be  grown  at  the  school.  Thus  the  work, 
study,  and  observation  by  the  whole  class  may  be  made  to  cover  nearly, 
if  not  completely,  each  entire  group. 

The  six-variety  boy  should  not  be  permitted  to  undertake  twelve 


Fig.  8s.  — Part  of  Wilson  Walker's  field  the  same  year  it 
was  cleared  of  rock,  planted  to  market  garden  vegeta- 
bles, carrots,  parsnips,  etc.     See  Figs.  83,  84,  and  86. 


1  Mr.  J.  H.  Fay,  a  teacher  of  experience  in  project  instruction  and  home  work  super- 
vision, thus  summarized  the  situation  as  he  saw  it : 

"i.  The  varieties  to  be  chosen  should  be  adapted  to  the  soil,  exposure  and  location  of 
land  on  the  farm. 

"2.   The  varieties  should  be  those  most  easily  grown  with  success. 

"3.   Use  varieties  serving  the  most  useful  economic  and  instructive  purposes. 

"4.    Use  those  sorts  best  suited  for  local  sale  or  home  consumption. 

"5.  Aim  to  have  the  boy's  home  gardening  supplement  and  improve  the  present  kitchen 
garden ;  or  where  such  does  not  exist,  or  is  very  inferior,  make  it  of  such  a  nature  that  its 
value  will  be  reahzed  and  permanency  secured.  2# 

"6.  If  field  projects  of  a  commercial  nature  are  the  ones  in  view,  then  local  conditions 
as  to  soil,  markets,  etc.,  will  again  determine  the  varieties  to  be  selected." 


ILLUSTRATIVE  PROJECT  STUDY  OUTLINES 


109 


varieties,  nor  should  the  boy  capable  of  completing  a  twelve  or  fifteen 
variety  project  be  permitted  to  stop  short  at  a  six. 

(2)  Project  study  by  vegetable  groups.  A.  A  practical  approach.  — 
Since  productive  work  on  the  home  farms  of  the  pupils  is  such  a  fun- 
damental feature  of  the  project  plan,  there  are  obvious  advantages 
in  the  above  classification  of  vegetables  by  methods  of  cultivation. 

B.  Aid  to  garden  planning.  —  Familiarity  with  the  general  cultural 
requirements  of  the  various  groups  is  necessary  to  the  first  intelligent 


Fig.  86.  —  Harvesting  cabbages  and  other  bulky  vegetables.  Wilson  Walker  at  right ;  at 
left,  his  brother  whom  he  hired  to  help  him.  Wilson  is  now  "in  the  trenches."  "To 
farm  is  to  arm,"  but  he  felt  he  must  respond  to  the  call  to  the  colors  on  the  field  of 
battle.     Marlborough  High  Agricultural  Department. 

Steps  in  home-garden  planning.  These  requirements  are  given  by 
various  authorities,  and  with  them,  of  course,  the  agricultural  instruc- 
tor must  be  familiar.  The  following  notes  are  from  Professor  Bailey's 
"  Principles  of  Vegetable  Gardening,"  pp.  271-433:  . 

Group  I.  Root  Crops  require  a  cool  season  and  deep  soiL  They  are 
grown  in  drills,  and  usually  are  not  transplanted.  They  are  used  both  as 
main-season  and  secondary  crops.  All  are  hardy.  No  special  skill  is  required 
in  growing  them. 

The  necessity  of  deep  soil  is  apparent  when  one  considers  that  the  value 
of  a  root  depends  to  a  large  e.xtent  on  its  straightness  or  symmetrj'.  In  hard 
and  shallow  soils  roots  are  short  and  they  tend  to  be  branched  and  irregular. 


no 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


Fine  tilth  does  much  to  insure  quick  growth,  and  quick  growth  improves  the 

quality. 

Group  2.  Tuber  Crops.  The  Potato.  —  Deeply  pulverized,  cool  soil, 
holding  much  capillary  moisture  and  rich  in  potash,  deep  and  early  planting, 
level  culture,  frequent  surface  tillage  to  conserve  moisture,  spraying  to  insure 
healthy  foliage,  —  these  are  requisites  of  the  best  potato  culture.  The  potato 
is  propagated  by  means  of  tubers.  It  thrives  best  in  a  relatively  cool  climate  ; 
in  the  south,  it  is  successful  only  as  a  spring  and  fall  crop,  for  the  midsummer 
season  is  too  continuously  hot. 

In  most  cases  a  heavy  yield  of  potatoes  is  largely  a  question  of  moisture. 
Group  3.     Bulb  Crops.  —  All  the  bulb  crops  are   hardy,   require   a  cool 
season,  and  moist,  rich  soil,  with  a  loose  surface.    Usually  they  are  not  seed-bed 

crops.  They  are  used 
both  as  main-season  and 
secondary  crops.  They 
are  propagated  by  both 
seeds  and  bulbs.  These 
crops  are  grown  chiefly  for  * 
the  underground  bulbs 
(but  the  leaves  are  often 
used  in  stews  and  season- 
ings). 

Gr6up  4.  Cole  Crops. 
—  All  cole  crops  are  hardy 
and  demand  a  cool  season 
and  soil  and  abundance  of 
moisture  at  the  root.  Ex- 
cept the  kales  and  kohl- 
rabi, all  are  seed-bed  crops, 
and  even  kales  are  often 
started  in  beds.  Each 
plant  requires  considerable 
space  in  order  to  develop 
well.  Cole  crops  are 
grown  for  the  vegetative  aerial  parts  rather  than  for  fruits  or  roots. 

Group  5.  Pot-herb  Crops.  —  Pot-herb  crops,  or  "  greens,"  are  grown 
for  their  leaves:  therefore  they  must  make  quick  growth  in  order  to  be  crisp 
and  tender;  the  ground  must  have  good  surface  tilth  and  much  available 
plant  food;  the  application  of  soluble  nitrogenous  substances  is  usually  im- 
portant, particularly  when  the  growth  is  nearing  completion.  Most  pot-herb 
crops  demand  a  cool  season  ;  and  nearly  all  of  them  are  partial-season  crops, 
and  are  therefore  treated  as  succession  or  companion  crops. 

Group  6.     Salad  Crops.  —  As  a  general  statement,  it  may  be  said  that 


Fig.  87.  —  Farm  boy.  Le  Roy  Anderson,  15.  One  acre 
gardening  project  at  home.  Far  from  market.  Grew 
bulky  crops.  Head  of  cabbage  ready  for  sale.  Walks 
five  miles  to  school.  Uses  bicycle  part  of  year.  One 
of  boys  referred  to  by  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott  on  p.  459  as 
putting  high  estimate  on  education. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  PROJECT  STUDY  OUTLINES 


III 


salad  plants  require  cool,  moist  soil,  and  a  quick,  continuous  growth  if  the 
best  results  are  attained.  They  are  often  benefited  by  a  special  application 
of  quickly  available  fertilizers  during  growth,  particularly  of  nitrogen  in  those 
species  which  are  desired  chiefly  for  a  quick  growth  of  leaves. 

Group  7.  Pulse  Crops.  —  Botanically  peas  and  beans  are  very  closely 
related,  but  they  have  few  points  in  common  from  the  cultural  point  of  view, 
since  peas  are  hardy,  cool-season  plants  and  beans  are  tender,  warm-season 


Fig.  88.  —  Part  of  squash  crop  of  Le  Roy  Anderson.  Rest  sold  at  date  of  picture.  Project 
income  (his  labor  plus  net  profit),  .$156.82.  Entire  farm  earnings  for  this  year  (1914) 
amounted  to  $336.27.  Excellent  worker  and  stood  well  in  school.  Graduated.  Now 
farming  with  his  father.     Ashfield  Agricultural  Department. 

plants.  Both  are  leguminous  crops,  and  are  therefore  capable  of  using  atmos- 
pheric nitrogen.  As  garden  crops,  however,  they  may  need  applications  of 
nitrogen  in  order  to  secure  a  quick  start,  particularly  if  an  earlj'  crop  is  desired. 
"  It  is  frequently  the  wiser  economy  to  apply  nitrogen,  particularl)'  if  they  are 
raised  upon  land  which  has  not  been  previously  planted  with  these  crops,  and 
thus  may  not  possess  the  specific  nitrogen-gathering  bacteria."     (Voorhees.) 


112 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


Peas.  —  Peas  are  a  partial-season  crop,  requiring  cool  season  and  a  soil 
not  over  rich;    seed  is  sown  where  the  plants  are  to  stand;    grown  in  drills; 

hardy. 

Beans.  —  Garden  beans  represent  several  species,  but  all  the  common 
kinds  are  very  tender  to  frost  and  require  a  warm  season  and  sunny  exposure ; 
seed  is  sown  where  the  plants  are  to  grow ;  usually  grown  in  drills,  except  the 
tall  kinds ;    the  common  bush  beans  are  partial-season  plants. 

Group  8.  Solanaceous  Crops.  —  Tomatoes,  eggplants,  and  their  kin  are 
hot-season  plants.     They  require  nearly  or  quite  the  entire  season  in  which  to 


Fig.  89.  —  Alden  Wheeler,  16,  had  home  project  on  this  farm.  Sign  erected  after  Alden's 
father  had  contracted  to  supply  Marston's  restaurants  with  sweet  corn  and  had  planted 
40  acres  to  this  crop  alone.  Winter  storage  for  100  tons  of  Hubbard  squashes.  Much 
space  under  glass  for  cucumbers,  etc.     Concord  Agricultural  Department. 

mature.  Usually  they  grow  until  killed  by  frost,  at  least  in  the  north,  and  the 
production  of  a  heavy  crop  depends  largely  on  securing  an  early  start.  They 
are  seed-bed  crops,  and  they  ne§d  abundance  of  quick-acting  fertilizers  applied 
relatively  early  in  their  growth.     They  are  grown  in  hills. 

Group  9.  Cucurbitous  or  Vine  Crops.  —  Cucurbitous  crops  are  annuals, 
grown  for  their  fruits ;  they  are  tender  to  frost ;  they  require  a  warm  season 
and  a  full  exposure  to  sun ;  they  are  long-season  crops,  and  with  most  of  them 
a  quick  start  is  essential  in  order  that  they  may  mature  the  crop  before  fall ; 
they  are  grown  in  hills,  as  a  main  crop ;  they  are  planted  in  the  field  or  in 
frames,  depending  on  the  region  and  the  period  at  which  the  crop  is  wanted; 


ILLUSTRATIVE   PROJECT  STUDY  OUTLINES 


113 


they  transplant  with  diflaculty,  and  if  the  plants  are  started  in  advance  of  the 
season  they  are  grown  in  pots,  boxes,  or  on  sods. 

Group  10.  Com.  (Other  names  omitted.)  —  The  plants  here  mentioned 
are  all  warm-weather  crops ;  they  are  annuals  or  grown  as  such,  and  they  are 
cultivated  for  their  immature  fruits ;  they  should  have  quick  soil ;  usually  they 
are  not  transplanted  ;  other  than  good  tillage,  no  special  treatment  is  required. 

Group  II.  Perennial  Crops.  —  The  management  of  perennial  crops 
differs  from  that  of  other  vegetable-gardening  crops,  in  the  fact  that  they  are 


•*-v 


'^tW   " ' 


Fig.  90.  —  Selecting  strawberry  plants  for  a  new  bed.     Home  projects  in  gardening 
should  include  small  fruit  growing.     Brimfield  Agricultural  Department. 

more  or  less  permanent  occupants  of  the  ground,  and  therefore  must  be  given 
an  area  to  themselves,  where  they  will  not  interfere  with  the  customary  plow- 
ing and  tilling,  in  the  fact  that  the  chief  tillage  and  care  are  required  early  and 
late  in  the  season,  and  also  because  the  fertilizing  is  secured  chiefly  by  surface 
dressings  in  spring  and  fall. 

C.  Good  but  inadequate.  —  This  knowledge  of  the  cultural  require- 
ments by  groups  above  given  affords  a  practical  approach  to  vege- 
table gardening.  It  probably  will  enable  a  boy  to  decide  what  groups 
are  suitable  for  his  land,  and,  therefore,  what  he  may  hope  to  grow 


114 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


for  his  family  or  cash  crop.  It  may,  consequently,  be  sufficient  foun- 
dation for  the  boy's  preHminary  garden  sketch.  A  careful  examina- 
tion shows,  however,  that  almost  everything  is  yet  to  be  learned  as  to 
the  individual  cultural  requirements  of  the  vegetables  which  the  boy 
selects  for  his  project  work. 

Accordingly,  only  so  much  time  should  be  given  to  the  study  of  veg- 
etable groups  as  may  be  necessary  for  reasonably  intelligent  selection 


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IP'f-f  n  -  * 

k 

_^i^*"*y 

Kli^  "  "*     '"^^^ 

^^^Hiil^BKflK                            '  \  i 

^S^''      1 

ip^^9|Mrl                           ^^^m 

1^           '  't-t 

J^^^i\^  ' M         ^,^^^^^^__^'^EJ^»tf^j^tfBBHW 

in 

a^ 

-4^%i^H;  '  "^j^- 

-J 

^ 

>-*     .  •  i 

■  — 

~-    _. ii"jsir-«  *,-;^!J^  . 

.te.i> 

Fig.  9 1.  —  This  boy's  father  bought  this  farm,  because  a  real  estate  agent  told  him  there 
was  an  agricultural  department  in  the  high  school,  that  his  son  could  take  the  agricultural 
course,  and  that  the  instructor  would  advise  him  (former  N.  Y.  City  man)  when  invited 
to  do  so.     Petersham  Agricultural  Department. 

of  the  varieties  which  are  to  be  grown.  In  fact,  so  much  knowledge 
may  well  be  .to  a  large  extent  a  gift  from  the  instructor  to  the  class 
as  a  whole. 

(3)    Project  study  by  vegetable  varieties 

Thoroughgoing  project  study  begins  when  the  individual  pupils 
settle  down  to  the  study  of  the  particular  vegetables  which  each  has 
decided  he  prefers  to  produce.  Such  study  necessitates  the  formula- 
tion of  project  study  outlines  for  the  chosen  vegetables. 

It  probably  will  always  be  the  case  that  a  considerable  number  of 
varieties  will  be  selected  by  the  entire  class,  while  other  varieties  will 


ILLUSTRATIVE  PROJECT   STUDY  OUTLINES 


"5 


be  selected  by  but  part  of  the  class,  perhaps  by  but  a  single  pupil. 
Project  study  would  better  begin  with  those  varieties  with  which  all 
are  to  work.  The  outline  making  should,  therefore,  begin  with  those 
varieties  which  are  to  be  grown  by  all.  Outlines  for  the  remaining 
varieties  may  then  be  made. 

Elsewhere  ^  a  project  dealing  with  a  staple  vegetable,  sometimes 
grown  in  the  garden  and  grown  sometimes  as  a  field  crop,  has  been 
analyzed  for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  character  and  extent  of  the 
project  study  pertinent  to  a  single  crop. 

Two  examples  of  project  study  outlines  will  here  be  given. 
These  will  show  project  study  materials  organized  for  classroom  and 


Fig.  92. — -First-year  projects  include  ornamental  planting  and  care, 
spot  rear  of  school.  Back  yards,  as  well  as  front,  receive  attention, 
forestry.     Ashfield  Agricultural  Department. 


Creating  beauty 
Bit  of  landscape 


individual  instruction,  in  connection  with  home  gardening  projects. 
The  first  outline  determines  the  precise  object  of  the  project ;  its  scope, 
whether  modest  or  more  ambitious ;  and  the  things  to  be  done  in 
general  preparation  of  the  land,  etc.  The  second  deals  with  a  particu- 
lar vegetable.  Moreover,  since  the  vegetable  elsewhere  analyzed  is 
a  staple  article  of  food,  namely,  the  potato,  the  vegetable  here  chosen 
is  a  salad  plant. 

Lettuce,  the  vegetable  selected  for  the  second  outline,  might  serve, 
it  will  be  seen,  a  most  excellent  purpose  for  introducing  the  study  of 

*  Chapter  II,  pp.  44-50. 


ii6 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


vegetable  growing.  Here  are  some  of  its  advantages  for  such  study : 
it  is  an  attractive  home  crop  and  a  very  important  cash  crop.  It  may 
be  grown  in  the  house,  in  a  hotbed,  cold  frame  or  greenhouse,  or  in 
the  open ;  among  the  earhest  vegetables,  among  the  latest  and  for  a 
continuous  summer  supply ;  or  to  keep  the  land  busy  as  a  companion 
or  succession  crop  in  connection  with  other  vegetables.  It  teaches 
the  importance  of  abundant  feeding  and  watering  as  fundamental  to 
both  quantity  and  quality.  It  naturally  singles  out  for  study  one  of 
the  most  important  elements  of  plant  food.     Since  in  connection  with 


Fig.  93.  —  School  flower  garden  sometimes  aid  to  home  flower  garden.     Cut  flo.wers 
sent  into  hospital  next  door  and  taken  home  by  pupils.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 

it  the  first  labor  is  Hkely  to  be  performed,  the  first  seeds,  fertilizers, 
and  tools  used,  and  the  first  product  disposed  of  to  the  family  for  credit 
or  to  the  public  for  cash,  it  is  one  of  the  best  vegetables  for  initiating 
the  keeping  of  records  and  accounts. 

It  will  be  seen  that  these  outlines  overlap  slightly  at  certain  points. 
The  wise  instructor  will  make  a  point  of  such  overlapping  in  his  out- 
line making.  He  will  find  therein  fruitful  opportunities  for  review- 
ing important  elements  of  both  principle  and  practice.  As  aids  to 
similar  reviewing,  references  will  be  found  to  the  approved  textbooks 
used  by  the  pupils  in  their  "  agricultural  survey  "  instruction. 


ILLUSTRATIVE   PROJECT  STUDY  OUTLINES  117 

If,  at  first  glance,  it  should  be  feared  that  the  second  outline  is  too 
full,  it  should  be  understood  that  no  pupil  is  expected  to  look  up  every 
reference  under  every  question.  Further,  it  should  be  understood 
that  certain  questions  of  agricultural  science  which  a  given  instructor 
intends  to  treat  in  connection  with  the  growing  of  other  vegetables 
may,  at  that  instructor's  discretion,  be  omitted  or  touched  upon  but 
lightly  in  connection  with  lettuce.     The  effort  here  is  to  show  a  good 


Fig.  94.  —  Agricultural  class  potting  plants  for  schoolrooms  of  all  classes.  Getting  ready 
for  winter.  Using  dirt  from  hotbeds.  Both  beauty  and  utility  in  the  Massachusetts 
plan.  School  projects  are  preparatory  to  home  projects  here  as  everywhere.  Petersham 
Agricultural  Department. 

form  of  outline  for  use,  not  only  by  a  whole  class  in  any  given  school 
or  department,  but  by  all  classes  throughout  an  entire  state  vocational 
agricultural  education  service  like  that  in  Massachusetts. 

Matter  suggested  as  desirable,  particularly  for  the  study  of  the  most 
capable  pupil,  under  the  heading  "  Broader  Results,"  in  Fig.  56,  page 
70,  in  Chapter  III,  has  been  dealt  with  in  the  following  outlines  in  foot- 
notes. Such  questions  as  those  in  the  footnotes  may  be  omitted  by 
all  save  the  most  exceptional  pupils. 


Il8  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 

The  first  outline  immediately  follows ;  the  second  begins  on  page 
126.^  The  open  spacing  will  be  noticed.  Outlines  in  this  skeleton 
form  invite  additions  from  time  to  time,  make  revisions  easy;  and, 
particularly,  make  outlines  suited  to  one  locality  quickly  adaptable 
to  another  locality. 

1  For  explanation  of  the  numbers  in  heavy  faced,  and  in  lighter  faced  type,  see  above, 
page  ICX3,  last  paragraph. 


ILLUSTRATIVE   PROJECT  STUDY  OUTLINES  119 

(4)  Suggestive  project  study  outline  —  Kitchen  gardening 

Project :  Kitchen  gardening 
Object,  Scale,  and  First  Steps  of  Project 


Giiiding  Questions 

for  Planning  this 

Project 


I..  Shall    you    grow 
vegetables  ?  ' 


Guiding  Questions 

for  Studying  and  Understanding 

this  Project 


(i)  What  are  the  advantages  of  a  good  home  garden? 

1:187-188  5:325  13:5-6  16:3-6,8,11 

25:335-         27:10,12-16         39:3,490         40:  iff. 

(2)  Could  you  sell  part  or  all  of  your  product  outside  the  family? 


2.  Where  shall  you 
grow  them  ? 


(1)  Where  was  the  home  garden  last  year? 

A.  How  well  did  the  vegetables  grow  in  it  ? 

B.  Was  it  large  enough  to  supply  the  family,  or  were  such 

vegetables  as  winter  squashes  and  potatoes  grown  as 
field  crops? 

(2)  May  it  be  desirable  to  change  the  location  of  a  garden,  or  of 

the  place  of  growing  certain  vegetables  in  an  old  garden  ? 

A.  What  is  "  rotation,"   and  its  significance  for  vegetable 
growing? 

26:  13  39:493  276:32-34 

(3)  Which  way  should  the  garden  slope? 

26:  7 

(4)  What  soil  is  best  for  a  garden  ?  " 

1:188-189  26:7-8  27:22 

39:  19.  21  f.,  25-26,  27 

(5)  May  the  garden  vegetables  be  part  of  a  field  crop?     How? 

Advantage? 

1:188 

(6)  Is  protection  from  the  wind  important?     Why? 

39:14 

(7)  Is  good  drainage  a  necessity?     Why? 

1:189  5:91-92  13:9  39:26 

(8)  On  the  whole,  what  may  be  considered  the  best  location  for  a 

garden? 

1:188  5:23s  11:451  13:6  27:20 

39:12-14,491,492-493 


•What  is  "olericulture"?  39:  i  276:  1-6. 

2  What  do  you  know  about  "portable  soil"  and  renting  contracts  among  small  gardeners 
near  Paris?    874  :  54. 


I20 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


Kitchen  gardening  —  Continued 


Guiding  Questions 

for  Planning  this 

Project 


2.  Where  shall  you 
grow  them  ?  — 

Continued. 


Guiding  Questions 

for  Studying  and  Understanding 

this  Project 


(9)   Shall  you  grow  vegetables  under  glass?  1 

A.  What  are  "  hotbeds  "  and  "  cold-frames"  for?     Cost  of 

construction  and  operation? 

5:236-237  11:483  13:12-15  25:145 

39 :  355-356  276 :  44-79  747 :  250-253 

876 :  94-96 

B.  Shall  you  use  a  hotbed ?     How? 

a.  What  is  the  best  manure  for  a  hotbed? 

26:67-68  27:65  39:109-110  276:56 

b.  How  shall  you  manage  the  manure  to  insure  heating? 

(a)  What  makes  manure  heat? 
26:67  27:65  375:56 

(b)  How  pile  it?     27:  65 

(c)  How  moist  should  it  be? 

275: 56-57 

(d)  What  may  be  the  result  of  careless  watering? 
275:61 

(e)  How  shall  you  get  uniform  heating  ? 
27:65  276:57 

(/)  What  shall  you  do,  if  the  manure  fails  to  heat? 

27:56 

c.  How   thick    should  be    the  layer  of  manure,   and  ho 

thick  the  layer  of  soil?  What  consideration  should 
be  given  the  kind  of  crop,  in  answering  the  foregoing 
question  ? 

275:  60 

d.  How  soon  after    riiaking  will  the  hotbed  be  ready  to 

receive  the  seed? 
276:  61-62 

e.  Meantime,  what  treatment  does  the  seed  bed  require? 

26:58  275:61-62 

C.  Shall  you  use  a  "  cold  frame  "?     How? 
(10)  In  view  of  the  above,  where  shall  you  grow  your  vegeta- 
bles? 


1  Open  air  v.  hothouse  returns,  according  to  12th  census?     853  :  194- 


ILLUSTRATIVE  PROJECT  STUDY  OUTLINES 


121 


Kitchen  gardening  —  Continued 


Guiding  Questions 

for  Planning  this 

Project 


Guiding  Questions 

for  Studying  and  Understanding 

this  Project 


3.  What  kinds  shall 
you  grow  ? 


(i)  Shall  you  grow  both  hardy  and  tender  vegetables? 

A.  What  are  "  hardy  "  and  "  tender  "? 
753 :  159 

(2)  What  is  a  practical  way  of  grouping  vegetables  by  their  cul- 

tivation requirements? 

39 : ig6-2oo,  241 

276:240-242,   271,  301,  314,  329,  347,  356,  380,  392, 
411,  423,  429,  433 

(3)  What  kinds  are  liked  best  by  your  family  ? 

(4)  What  kind  could  you  sell  best? 

(5)  What  kinds  or  varieties,  therefore,  shall  you  grow  for 

A.  Family  use? 

a.  Summer? 

b.  Winter? 

B.  Sale? 


4.  What    quantities 
shall  you  grow  ? 


(i)  To  what  extent  shall  you  undertake  to  supply  your  family 
with  the  vegetables  needed  for  the  entire  year?  ' 

A.  What  kinds  of  vegetables  were  used  on  the  home  table  last 

year? 

B.  What  quantity  of  each  was  required? 

C.  What  were  grown  at  home  and  what  were  purchased? 

D.  About  what  was  the  total  value  of  the  vegetables  used  in 

the  last  twelve  months  by  your  family? 

E.  Shall  you  work  alone  or  in  cooperation  with  some  of  your 

family,  a  neighbor,  or  a  fellow  pupil? 

16:  9-10 


'  W'hat  may  comparatively  small  areas  produce  under  the  best  methods?      5  '•  234 
13:5  33:9-17  276:31.3s  853:69-109,118-121,123,127,407-408. 


122 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


Kitchen  gardening  —  Continued 


I 
Guiding  Questions 

2 
Guiding  Questions 

for  Planning  this 

for  Studying  and  Understanding 

Project 

this  Project 

4.  What    quantities 

(i)  To  what  extent  shall  you  undertake  to  supply  your  family  with 

shall  you  grow  ? 

the  vegetables  needed  for  the  entire  year  ?  —  Continued. 

—  Continued. 

F. 

How  large  was  the  garden  last  year?     Sketch  outline,  give 
dimensions,  and  figure  area. 

G. 

How  large  a  garden  will  supply  a  family  of  five  or  six? 
11:454-455             276:31,35-43 

■ 

H. 

In  view  of  the  foregoing  study,  and  assuming  that  a  garden 
should  be  cultivated  carefully  about  twice  a  week  for  the 
family  supply,  how  large  an  area  shall  you  undertake  to 
work? 

(2)  Shall  you  grow  a  surplus  for  sale? 

A. 

What  quantity  could  be  readily  sold? 

B. 

What  would  be  the  cost  of  marketing? 

C. 

In  view  of  the  above,  what  quantity  shall  you  try  to  pro- 
duce for  sale,  and  what  land  allowance  shall  you  make? 

5.  Shall    you    map 

(i)  Ad 

vantages  of,  and  materials  for  making  a  garden  plan? 

your  garden  ? 

25:  8,  24-28,  42             27: 21,  23,  25             271: 279-284 
753:324             876:61 

A. 

What  scale  shall  you  use? 

a.  What  is  "  drawing  to  scale  "? 

B. 

Shall  you  show  the  points  of  compass?     W^hy? 
876:61 

C. 

Which  way  shall  the  rows  run,  lengthwise  or  crosswise? 
276:31-32 

D. 

Shall  the  rows  run  north  and  south?     Why? 
25:8-11 

E. 

Shall  your  plan  show  such  double  cropping  as  you  have 

decided  upon? 
a.  What  is  "  double  cropping  "? 

39:475-489 

F. 

In  what  part  of  the  garden  shall  you  put  low-growing,  and 
in  what  part  high-growing  plants? 

G. 

Shall  you  observe  strictly  the  rules  of  "  rotation  "  in  lo- 
cating your  deep  and  shallow  rooted  plants? 

II. 

What  are  some  model  kitchen  garden  plans? 
11:8-9,451-454              13:7-8             16:2-28 
25:11-14             27:21,23,25             31:20-21 
276:33.  37.  39.  41 

ILLUSTRATIVE   PROJECT  STUDY  OUTLINES 


123 


Kitchen  gardening  —  Continued 


I 
Guiding  Questions 

2 
Guiding  Questions 

for  Planning  this 

for  Studying  and  Understanding 

Project 

this  Project 

6.  When,  and  how 

(i)  What  time  of  year  is  best  for  plowing  land  for  gardening? 

thoroughly, 

26:31             39:29             276:88 

shall  you  pre- 

A. 

What  may  be  gained  by  fall  plowing? 

pare      your 
land? 

26:  31           39:  29,  30           254:  40,  41           276:  88-89 

(2) 

What  is  the  relation  of  a  thoroughly  pulverized  seed  bed  to 

quick  germination  and  rapid  growth?     Best  tools  to 

use?     Best  methods  of  using  them? 

1:74-76,83-87,96,190             11:87-114 

13:9-10,15,21-22              24:  XIX             25:35-42 

39:28-40             276:155             278:91-130 

279:390-392           285:90-92,156-158          767:67-72 

770:5-6             876:77-78,88-89 

A. 

What  tools  shall  you  use? 

a.  What  have  you  now?     Make  a  list. 

b.  What  must  you  buy?     Make  a  list. 

B. 

What  will  be  your  expense  for  these  tools? 

7.  Shall     you     use 

(i) 

Shall  you  use  lime  on  your  vegetable  land? 

lime? 

A. 

What  is  the  effect  of  lime  upon  the  soil? 
279 :  304-307 

' 

B. 

Effect  upon  the  plant? 
279 :  302-304 

C. 

When  most  beneficial? 
279 :  307-309 

D. 

How  can  you  tell  when  lime  is  needed  ? 
5:126                25:7            39:65-66         279:309-310 
752  :  98            767  :  95-99            770  :  46-50 

E. 

When,  in  what  forms,  and  how  may  lime  be  applied? 
5:127-128              278:70             279:302-311,314 

F. 

Where  shall  you  get  your  lime,  and  what  will  it  cost  ? 

8    How    and   when 

(I) 

Shall  you  use  stable  manure? 

shall   you  fer- 

A. 

Value  of  stable  manure  in  vegetable  growing?     Should  it 

tilize     your 

be  well  rotted?     Apply  when  and  how  much? 

land  ?  ' 

B. 

How  should  stable  manure  be  stored  and  handled  ? 

C 

Should  it  be  thoroughly  mixed  with  the  soil?     Plowed  or 
spaded  under?     Or  raked,  or  harrowed  in? 

'  What  are  motives  for  fair  and  square  treatment  of  the  land?     i :  100    876:  S7~S8. 


124 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


Kitchen  gardening  —  Continued 


I 

2 

Guiding  Questions 

for  Planning  this 

Project 

Guiding  Questions 

for  Studying  and  Understanding 

this  Project 

8.  How    and   when 

1:97-100,188            13:11             16:30-31,33-35 

shall  you  ferti- 
lize your  land  ? 

—  Continued. 

24:  XVII            25:4,5,7,112             27:35-38 

39 :  41-42,  49-50,  492         271 :  27s            285 :  173-181 

616:  5-32,  esp.  16-29            697:  113-181 

876:56-57 

D. 

What  will  your  manure  cost  ? 

(2)   Shall  you  use  green  manure? 

A. 

What  is  "  green  manuring  "?     What  are  its  advantages 
and  disadvantages? 

i:  100            25:  16-17            39:  53-57 
279: 349-370,  esp.  349,  370 
285:  171,  183,  185,  186,  188,  189,  191             876:  58-59 

(3)  Shall  you  use  compost  ? 

A.  What  is  "  humus  "?     What  does  it  do? 

5  :  95-96  25  :  4,  7,  8,  61,  246,  247,  274,  299,  306 

27:22  278:25-26,31,35,67 

285 :  27,  38,  41,  43,  44,  62,  67  752  :  108-109 

767:33, 38,  48,  SI 

B.  What  is  "  compost  " ?     How  made? 

25:  17,  18,  34,  61,  112,  113,  152,  306  26:  21 

278:242,243  285:171,181  876:59-60 

C.  What  is   "  short  "   manure?     Should  stable   manure  be 

composted? 

24 :  XVIII  27 :  36-38  39 :  47-49 

276 :  95-96 

D.  What  will  your  compost  cost? 

(4)  Shall  you  use  commercial  fertilizer? 

A.  Most  lands  usually  contain  sufficient  quantities  of  all  save 

what  elements  of  plant  food? 
II :  III 

B.  What    is    "commercial    fertilizer"?     Its    uses    and    its 

sources  ? 

1:97-98  5:114-125,131,132,408  13:11-12 

24:  XX  25:6,32-35,58-71  39:58-65 

C.  What  may  be  considered  an  "  all-round  "  fertilizer,  or  a 

"  basic  mixture,"  for  vegetable  growing? 
25:33  276:104-106  633:267 


ILLUSTRATIVE   PROJECT   STUDY  OUTLINES 


125 


Kitchen  gardening  —  Continued 


Guiding  Questions 

for  Planning  this 

Project 


8.  How  and  when 
shall  you  fer- 
tilize  your 
land? 

—  Continued. 


Guiding  Questions 

for  Studying  and  Understanding 

this  Project 


a.  Shall  you  use  a  basic  or  all-round  mixture? 

b.  If  so,  what  will  it  cost? 

D.  Shall  you  use  commercial  fertilizers  separately,  and  not 
mixed  ? 

a.  Do  certain  vegetables  prefer  particular  fertilizers,  as,  for 

example,  celery,  beets,  peas,  lettuce,  cabbages,  and 

tomatoes? 
5:116-123  25:146  26:225 

39:  23s,  250,  270,  312,  356,  411-412,  458-460     276:359 
409:  64  633:  277 

b.  What  shall  you  spend  for  commercial  fertilizers? 


9.  Plant  how  ? 


(i)  What  are  the  relative  advantages  of  planting  by  hand,  and 
with  a  planter  or  seed  sower? 
11:117  16:94  24:  xiii,  xiv,  xix-xx 

25:54  39:135.137  276:163-164 

A.  Shall  you  use  a  planter  or  seed  sower? 

B.  What  will  it  cost  you? 


10.  Cultivate  how  ? 


(i)   What  is  the  relation  of  "  clean  culture,"  and  preservation  of  a 
thin  "  earth  mulch  "  to  quality  and  quantity  of  vege- 
tables?    And  shall  you  use  horse  or  hand  tools? 
11:95-96,101-107  13:21  16:96-103 

25:  31-32,  35-37,  38  27:  18,  52-56,  157-159 

39:358  276:360  853:112-113  874:76-81 

A.  Are    weeds   ever   beneficial?     What   are    weeds?     What 
better  "cover  crops"  are  there? 
409:88  768:71-73 

B.  Should  care  be  exercised  in  weeding  and  cultivating? 
25:37-38 

(2)  What  tools  shall  you  use  for  cultivating?  * 

(3)  What  will  these  tools  cost? 

Compare  25:  32,  36,  37 


II.  How  gather, 
care  for,  and 
dispose  of 
product  ? 


( I )  The  questions  as  to  tools,  receptacles,  etc.,  required  for  gather- 
ing and  disposing  of  the  garden  vegetables  can  be  better 
answered  after  the  individual  varieties  to  be  grown  have 
been  studied. 


'  What  do  you  know  about  the  history  and  kinds  of  tillage  tools?     5 :  82-94    25 :  31-32 
371 :  81. 


126 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


Kitchen  gardening  —  Concluded 


Guiding  Questions 

for  Planning  this 

Project 


II.  How  gather, 
care  for,  and 
dispose  of 
product  ? 

— Continued. 


12.  What  accounts 
shall  you 
keep  of  your 
gardening 
project  ? 


Guiding  Questions 

for  Studying  and  Understanding 

this  Project 


(2)  What  means  of  storage  have  you,  or  shall  you  provide?  ' 

11:158-161,475  25:113-119  39:193-195 

274:  141,  142,  146,  147,  149  276:  214,  224-235 

753:162-163  767:31-33,48-79,80,81,86,87,109 

(3)  What  salesmanship  principles  as  to  attractiveness  of  person 

and  products,  advertising,  etc.,  shall  you  put  into  prac- 
tice in  selling  your  surplus? 

5:  380-383  39:  162-192  276:  214-224 

753  :  327-328  761  :  154-160 

850  :  33,  35,  41,  42,  69,  72,  74,  77,  79,  87,  88,  92 


(i)   What  are  proper  elements  of  cost  and  the  best  methods  of  ac- 
counting in  vegetable  production? 
5  :  380-383  39  :  162-163  276  :  214-224 

465:  109-138,  139-144, 145-197    492:  I-2I,  22-41,  82-100 
753  :  327-328  761  :  154-160  782  :  157, 159 

(2)   What  account  with  your  family  shall  you  keep? 
492  :  143-152 


(5)    Suggestive  project  study  outune.  —  Lettuce  growing 

Project  :  Kitchen  gardening 
Sub-project :  Lettuce  growing 


I 

Guiding  Questions 

for  Planning  this 

Project 

2 

Guiding  Questions 

for  Studying  and  Understanding 

this  Project 

I.  Plant  where? 

(i)  Where  have  you  seen  good  lettuce  growing?     Of  whom  may 
you  seek  advice  ?  ' 
31  :  15 

A.  Lettuce  belongs  to  what  cultural  class,  and  what  are  the 

soil  requirements  of  that  class? 
276  :  241 

B.  What  soil  is  best  for  lettuce? 

39  :  355                276  :  356,  358-359               874  :  119 

1  What  do  you  know  about  the  canning  and  preserving  of  vegetables?     271 :  is'7-i77. 

^Origin  and  importance  of  lettuce?     11:483  26:149  88:361  39:351 

276:360.     Botanical  features  and  classification?      26:223       276:360-361       286:85-86. 


ILLUSTRATIVE   PROJECT  STUDY  OUTLINES 


127 


Lettuce  growing  —  Continued 


I 


I 

2 

Guiding  Questions 

for  Planning  this 

Project 

Guiding  Questions 

for  Studying  and  Understanding 

this  Project 

I.  Plant  where?  — 

Continued. 

(i) 

Where  have  you  seen  good  lettuce  growing?     Of  whom  may 
you  seek  advice?  —  Continued. 

C.  At  what  spot  are  your  soil  conditions  best  for  lettuce? 
How  best? 

(2) 

874  :  54-55 
Shall  you  grow  lettuce  in  more  than  one  part  of  the  garden?  1 

A.  What  is  companion  cropping? 

39  :  357-358,  477,  478,  480,  482,  488        276  :  358 
747  :  257 

B.  What  is  succession  cropping? 

I  :  189             25  :  13             31  :  22-23             271  :  105 
276  :  358-359            853  :  191-192,  330             876  :  119 

C.  In  view  of  the  above  references,  what  combinations  might 

you  make? 

D.  What  combinations  shall  you  make? 

(3) 

Where  shall  you  start  your  plants  ? 

A.  In  the  house? 

1:190           25:63-68,145           26:47           285:51 
767  :  212          876  :  92-93,  119 

B.  Under  glass  ?« 

a.  What  is  a  cold  frame?     A  hotbed? 

5:236-237         11:483           25:145        39:355-356 
276  :  44-79          747  :  250-253          876  :  94-Q6 

C.  How  much  time  may  be  gained  by  starting  plants  indoors 

or  under  glass  ? 

(4) 

25:51-52            31:113            39:355            276:49 
How  large  an  area  needed?  ' 
A.  In  the  garden?     • 

a.  Plants  per  acre? 
851  :  329 

b.  How  may  thinnings  be  used  ?     Relations  of  such  use  to 
area  required  ? 

11  :  483            24  :  152            25  :  146        31  :  33 
276  :  359          876  :  91 

c.  Your  estimate  of  area  needed? 

*  Possible  returns  from  double  croppings?     853:  329-331. 

^  What  do  you  know  of  experimental  lettuce  growing  and  its  production  under  glass  by 
market  gardeners?     271:  23-26,  30,  33,  120,  122  747:  248-250  876:93. 

'  Heads  per  acre  and  possible  profit?     31:  114     39:  358. 


128 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


Lettuce  growing  —  Continued 


I 

Guiding  Questions 

for  Planning  this 

Project 

2 

Guiding  Questions 

for  Studying  and  Understanding 

this  Project 

I.  Plant  where?  — 

Continued. 

(4)  How  large  an  area  needed  ?  —  Continued. 
B.  Under  glass? 

a.  What  is  a  "sash"? 
276  :  46 

b.  What  is  a  "  frame  "  ? 
276  :  46 

c.  Number  of  lettuce  plants  per  sash? 
31  :  113-114              276  :  46 

d.  Your  estimate  of  space  needed  under  glass? 

2.  Plant  what? 

(i)   What  varieties  have  you  seen  or  eaten?  ' 

(2)  What  variety  is  best  liked  by  the  family? 

(3)  What  variety  sells  best  where  you  might  sell  your  surplus? 

(4)  Is  there  a  better  all-round  variety  than  Black  Seeded  Tennis 

Ball?     Why? 

II  :  484             25  :  so,  130,  131,  144-145.  147 
26  :  225-226      31  :  24,  33,  113        39  :  3SI-3S4 
276  :  358          292  :  557-558           876  :  ng 

(5)  What  is  your  estimate  of  the  quantity  of  seed  needed? 

II  :  484               26  :  46               39  :  405 

3.  Plant  when? 

(i)  What  is  a  "planting  table"? 

25  :  327-334.  esp.  331             274  :  106 

(2)  How  long  does  it  take  lettuce  to  mature  for  table  use? 

25  :  149            31  :  33,  113 

(3)  How  early  and  how  late  may  lettuce  be  planted? 

25  :  144,  146,  149        26  :  223-225             31  :  21-22 
33:  113-114                39:  357-358 

(4)  Should  supply  be  sought  for  hot  months? 

I  :  191          II  :  484            25  :  147-148            39  :  354 
276  :  357-359 

(s)  What  is  "  pricking  out  "  and  how  is  it  done? 

24  :  xxii-xxiii               25  :  145-146                 876  :  94 

(6)  Does  transplanting  aid  heading?    Why? 
31  :  114 

*  What  are  some  estimates  of  the  number  of  known  varieties  of  lettuce?     276 :  361. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  PROJECT  STUDY  OUTLINES 
Lettuce  growing  —  Continued 


129 


Guiding  Questions 

for  Planning  this 

Project 


Seed,   get   when 
and  where  ? 


Guiding  Questions 

for  Studying  and  Understanding 

this  Project 


(1)  Shall  you  use  home-grown  or  purchased  seed?  1 

(2)  Shall  you  grow  your  own  seed  for  next  year? 

26:  51  276: 165-168  292:  i7g 

A.  Pound  of  seed  from  how  many  plants? 

39:355 

B.  What  is  the  appearance  of  lettuce  seed  as  to  size,  shape, 

surface,  and  color  or  colors? 
25:  I4Q  38:  361 

(3)  Shall  you  get  your  seed  early  and  test  it? 

25: 52-53 

A.  What  is  the  relation  of  a  high  sprouting  test  to  high  vege- 

tative power? 

276:  149-154,  esp.  151 

B.  What  conditions  are  required  for  sprouting  seeds? 

285: 70-75 

C.  Is  lettuce  seed  naturally  strong  or  weak  ? 

a.  How  shall   you  make  a  test  for  percentage  of  germi- 

nation? 
1:230-231  5:49.51  31:25-27  271:280 

75:20  876:87-88 

b.  Make  the  test  for  strength,  using  lettuce  seed  instead  of 

corn,  and  otherwise  following  directions  given  in  ref- 
erence. 
285:  81-82 

D.  How  shall  you  test  your  lettuce  seed  for  percentage  of  im- 

purities? 

5:51-52  876:88 

E.  What  is  "  longevity  "  of  seeds,  and  how  does  lettuce  seed 

compare  with  other  seeds  in  longevity? 
5: 40s  276:  138 

F.  Do  new  and  old  seeds  look  alike?     How  do  they  differ? 

25:46  279:388 

G.  Is  large  seed  better  than  small?     Why? 

5:53-54  279:388  876:226-227 

H.  How  may  large  be  separated  from  small? 

25:46 
I.    What  is  the  cheapest  seed  ?  * 

5:52-53 


1  What  is  a  seed?  279:381.  Why  is  lettuce  called  an  "annual"?  31:33  38: 
361.  Most  of  seed  is  produced  where?  39:  355.  Is  changing  seed  ever  an  advantage? 
279 :  384-386. 

*  What  are  other  seed  tests  which  may  be  made?     767:  202-211. 


I30 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


Lettuce  growing  —  Continued 


Guiding  Questions 

for  Planning  this 

Project 


4.  Seed,  get  when 
and  where  ?  — 
Continued. 


Guiding  Questions 

for  Studying  and  Understanding 

this  Project 


(4)  Where  can  you  get  the  highest  grade  lettuce  seed? 

(5)  When  can  it  be  had? 

(6)  At  what  cost? 


5.  Fertilize  with 
what,  when, 
and  how? 


(i)'Has  your  garden  been  heavily  fertilized  with  stable  manure? 

A.  What  is  heavy  manuring  for  a  garden? 

31:  17-19 

B.  How  many  cords  of  manure  per  acre  may  be  used  for 

lettuce? 

25: 145-146  31:  113 

C.  Has  your  manuring  been  sufficient  for  your  lettuce? 

(2)  Shall  you  use  a  mixture  of  commercial  fertilizers  for  your 

garden  ? 

A.  What  is  a  "  basic  mixture  "  for  vegetable  growing? 

276:  104-106  633:  267 

B.  How  apply? 

39:59-65  285:1s 

(3)  What  special  kind  of  commercial  fertilizer  gives  the  quickest 

and  best  growth  of  lettuce?     What  are  the  sources  of  it 
and  symbol  for  it  ?  ' 
.5:116-123  25:146  26:225  39:356 

276:359  633:277 

A.  What  is  the  relation  of  the  quality  of  lettuce  to  rapid  and 

continuous  growth? 
276:  106  292:  178 

B.  How,  when,  and  at  what  rate  may  nitrate  of  soda  be  safely 

applied? 

25:146-147  26:27-28  31:7  39:60-61 

292:  178  409:  57 

C.  How  do  plants  feed?  2 

1:96,105,107  5:64-67  285:17-20 

750:   16-17  768:  62-66 

D.  Why  is  a  fertilizer  which  is  readilj'  soluble  "quick  acting  "? 


*  What  tests  or  experiments  have  you  made  for  noting  the  presence  of  nitrogen  and  its 
action?     What  can  you  say  of  its  sources  and  its  relations  to  plants?  1:  79-80,  98, 

100  6:  60,  61,  63,  97,  113,  116,  119,  121,  122,  136,  138,  139,  140,  141  398:  226- 

248  409:  10,    II,  20,  37,  43,  49,  87,  92,  97,  Q9,   105,    108,  no,   170,  171,    205,    214, 

216,   217  410:26-30,    179-184,  339  747:    24,  34,  35,   37,   38-40  761:28 

768: 21-23. 

2  What  do  you  know  about  the  nature  and  growth  of  roots?  298:  39,  41,  45,  49, 

50,  60,  61,  62,  77,  82,  160,  161,  167,  247,  447     768:  62-66 


ILLUSTRATIVE  PROJECT   STUDY   OUTLINES 


131 


Lettuce  growing  —  Continued 


I 

Guiding  Questions 

for  Planning  this 

Project 

2 

Guiding  Questions 

for  Studying  and  Understanding 

this  Project 

5 

Fertilize        with 
what,      when, 
and     how  ?  — 

Continued. 

(4) 

If  your  lettuce  area  is  small,  may  liquid  manure  be  used  to 
advantage  ? 

A.  How  prepare  it?     How  control  its  "  strength  "?     Is  it  a 
plant  food  or  a  "  plant  tonic  "? 

24:  xix          25:  101-102,  104          39:  61             876:  104 

(5)  When  shall  you  get  your  plant  food  supplies? 

(6)  What  will  be  the  cost  of  your  lettuce  fertilizer? 

Compare  25:  S3 

6. 

Shall     you     use 
lime? 

(0 

Is  your  land  "  quick  "? 
A.  When  island  "quick"? 
276:  85 

. 

B.  How  may  lime  aid  quickness? 

276:  96            285:  149,  200            876:  230 

(2) 

Should  lime  be  used  in  vegetable  growing?     How  find  out? 

(3) 

5:126             25:7             39:65-66             279:310 
752:98             767:95-99             770:46-50 
Is  lettuce  sensitive  to  soil  acidity? 
5:  126 

(4) 

When  and  in  what  forms  may  lime  be  applied? 

5:127-128             278;  70              279:302-311,314 

(5) 

What  will  your  lime  cost  ? 

7- 

Prepare     ground 
for   seed    with 
what  and  how 
thoroughly  ? 

(0 

What  is  the  relation  of  a  thoroughly  pulverized  seed  bed  to 
germination  and  growth?     Best  tools  to  use?     Cost? 
Best  method  of  using  them?^ 
1:74-76,83-87,96,190             11:87-114 

(2) 

13:9-10,15,21-22             24:  xix             25:35-42 
39:28-40             276:155             278:91-122 
279:390-392            285:90-92,156-158           767:67-72 
770:  5-6             876:  77-78,  88-89 
Keep  accurate  record  of  cost  of  preparing  ground,  including 
proper  proportion  of  original  plowing  and  harrowing. 

8 

Plant  how? 

(l) 

Shall  you  plant  by  hand  or  with  a  seed-sower? 

11:117             16:97             24:  xix-xx             39:137 
276:  163-164 

•  What  do  you  know  about  the  history  and  kinds  of  tillage  tools? 
26:31-32  271: 81. 


6 : 82-94 


132  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

Lettuce  growing  —  Continued 


I 

Guiding  Questions 

for  Planning  this 

Project 

2 

Guiding  Questions 

for  Studying  and  Understanding 

this  Project 

8.  Plant    how  ?  — 

Continued. 

(i)   Shall  you  plant  by  hand  or  with  a  seed-sower?  —  Continued. 

A.  How  is  a  seed-sower  set  for  lettuce  seed? 

B.  How  is  lettuce  seed  planted  by  hand? 

25  :  54-55              39  :  i35 

(2)  Shall  you  soak  your  seed?     Why? 

39  :  134 

(3)  Shall  your  rows  be  straight?     Why? 

25  :  36 

(4)  Plant  how  deep,  and  how  far  apart  between  rows  and  between 

plants?     To  what  extent  should  size  of  seed,  time  of 
year,  weather  and  soil  conditions  control  depth  and  dis- 
tances? 

I  :  190                II  :  117-118               13  :  47 
25  :  53-54,  327, 331          31  :  113           39  :  133-134,  357 
285  :  81           747  :  254           753  :  i59           874  :  89-93 

(5)  Keep  itemized  record  of  cost  of  planting. 

g.  Cultivate  how  ? 

(i)   Shall  you  cultivate  your  lettuce  with  both  horse  and  hand 
tools?     State  your  plan  and  reasons. 

II  :  95-96,  101-107          16  :  96-103          25  :  35-37 
27  :  18,  52-56,  157-159           39  :  358           276  :  360 
853  :  112-113            876  :  76-81 

(2)   Keep  items  of  cost  of  cultivation. 

10.  Shall  you 
water  ?  ' 

(i)   What  is  "  free  "  water?     How  far  from  the  surface  is  the 
"  free-water  "  level  in  your  lettuce  ground? 

285  :  48-49               289  :  45-46               683  :  29 

(2)  What  is  "  capillary  "  water?     Perform  at  least  one  experiment 

for  observing  the  movement  of  "  capillary  water." 

25  :  55-56 

285  :  44,  Fig.  24;     48,  Fig.  26,  Fig.  27;    49-50,  Fig.  28 

289  :  41            681  :  40            747  :  14            762  :  80-85 

(3)  What  is  "  film  "  water?     Howmuch  film  surface  has  a  cubic 

foot  of  clay  loam  particles? 

5 :  80          285  :  50-52          289  :  22-24          581  :  4-S 
683:30                747:10-12                762:75-80 

(4)  Where  does  all  water  come  from? 

5:61 

*  What  part  has  water  played  in  soil  formation?     289 :  7-15     681 :  10-14     683 :  3,  1 1,  15 
68S:  74-108. 


ILLUSTRATIVE   PROJECT   STUDY   OUTLINES  1 33 

Lettuce  growing  —  Continued 


I 
Guiding  Questions 

2 
Guiding  Questions 

for  Planning  this 

for  Studying  and  Understanding 

Project 

this  Project 

10.  Shall  you  water  ? 

(s) 

What  use  does  a  plant  make  of  water,  and  how  does  it  take  it 

—  Continued. 

from  the  soil  ?     Perform  an  experiment  for  observing  the 
process  of  "  osmosis."  ^ 

5  :  64-67,  73          285  :  39          289  :  42-43          298  :  64 
752  :  17-21            768  :  16-19,  24             772  :  201-204 

(6) 

What  is  the  comparative  water-absorbing  power  of  different 
soils,  including  a  good  quality  of  garden  soil? 
285  :  45,  Fig.  25 

(7) 

What  quantities  of  water  do  different  plants  require  for 
maturing  their  crops? 
5  :  62-63,  67               285  :  40 

(8) 

Does  lettuce  require  much  or  little  water  for  the  quickest  and 
best  growth? 
34  :  83                39  :  3S8 

(9) 

What  is  meant  by  "  watering  with  the  hoe  "  ? 

5  :  85-86                25  :  55-56               876  :  102-103 

(10) 

Under  what  conditions,  if  at  all,  is  it  advisable  to  water  after 
sowing  lettuce  seed? 

25:  56 

(11) 

Why  "  never  sprinkle  "?     When,  how,  and  in  what  quanti- 
ties should  water  be  applied? 
I  :  igo-igi                II  :  100                13  :  22-23 
25  :  41,  104-107         31  :  114                  876  :  104 

(12)  Keep  account  of  cost  in  time  and  equipment  for  watering. 

II.  Protect       from 

(i) 

What  enemies  attack  the  lettuce  plant? 

what       plant 

A.  Indoors  or  under  glass? 

enemies,  and 

B.  In  the  open? 

how? 

24:123         25:71-72,149         26:226         30:3-16 
39  :  3S6,  3S8              274  :  273,  322            276  :  361 
292  :  179-180             768  :  102              876  :  119 

(2) 

Which  need  you  fear? 

(3) 

What  protection  against  flea-beetle? 
25  :  71-72 

(4) 

Mice? 

39  :  356 

(5) 

Cutworms? 

25  :  73,  76               276  :  38               558  :  47 

(6) 

Keep  account  of  expense  for  protection  in  time  and  materials. 

1  What  are  "plasmolysis"  and  "wilting"  of  lettuce?         278:  69,  80,  Si. 


134 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 
Lettuce  growing  —  Concluded 


I 

2 

Guiding  Questions 

Guiding  Questions 

for  Planning  this 

for  Studying  and  Understanding 

Project 

this  Project 

12.  How      harvest, 

(i)  For  family  use ?     Credit  received  at  market  price? 

dispose 

of 

11:483             13:3s             24:153            26:224-225 

product, 

and 

39  :  357 

balance 

the 

lettuce 

(2) 

For  sale?     Blanched? 

account  ? 

1 

II  :  484                39  :  352,  3S8 

(3) 

What  principles  of  salesmanship  and  accounting  shall  you  put 
into  practice? 

5  :  380-383                39  :  162,  163 

276  :  214-224            .    465  :  109-138,  139,  144,  145-197 

492  :  1-21,  22-41,  82-100,  143-152 

753  :  327-328             761  :  154-160             782  :  157,  159 

850  :  33,  35.  41,  42,  69,  72,  74,  77,  79,  87,  88,  92 

(4) 

Shall  you  keep  a  separate  lettuce  account,  or  include  outlay 
and  receipts  in  the  account  of  the  kitchen-gardening  project 
as  a  whole? 

1  How  serve  lettuce?     Its  place  in  an  attractive  and  wholesome  diet?    26 :  147-149,  182 
874 :  1 19-120. 


CHAPTER   V 


EXAMPLE   OF   A   STATE   AGRICULTURAL  PROJECT   STUDY 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

This  chapter  sets  forth  the  Massachusetts  method  of  listing  agri- 
cultural project  and  related  study  reference  materials  and  their 
sources.  The  entry  numbers  in  the  first  column  fit  this  bibliography 
into  the  plan  of  outline  making  presented  in  the  foregoing  chapter. 


Fig.  95.  —  Lessons  in  lawn  making.  Boys  re-worked  and  carefully  graded  front  yard  at 
school.  Made  ornamental  planting  plan  for  borders  and  set  out  shrubbery.  A  real 
job.  An  improvement  project  suited  to  "group  instruction."  Also  a  gift  of  beauty 
to  the  public.      .\shfield  Agricultural  Department. 

This  chapter,  accordingly,  includes  the  original  bibliography, 
printed  in  191 2,  with  a  few  revisions;  also,  entries  in  italics  from  the 
later  typewritten  supplements. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  entries  include  no  bulletins  and  no 
circulars.     It  was   soon   found    that    original    bulletins   were   reap- 

13s 


136  VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 

pearing  in  more  or  less  revised  forms  under  new  numbers,  with 
altered  paging,  and  sometimes  with  titles  changed.  Announce- 
ments of  such  literature  are  now  regularly  issued  by  the  btates 
Relations  Service  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 
and  may  be  had  gratis  by  any  agricultural  instructor  on  his  request. 
The  Specialist  in  Agricultural  Education  of  that  Service  also  has 
a  good  plan  for  arranging  such  literature  for  ready  reference  which 
he  will  send  to  any  instructor  who  asks  for  it. 

The  classification  of  reference  materials  made  in  this  bibliography 
was  intended  to  help  the  agricultural  instructor  keep  his  teaching  and 


I.  ,0.  ,6.  -  Anticipate  future  needs  when  planning.     Bird's-eye  view  of _  P^^^^l    grow  h  o 
Smith  School,  Northampton.     First  building  at  center.     Second,  since  built  by  trade 
department,  rear  of  central  building.     Sixteen-acre  plateau  reserved  for  campus. 

teaching  materials  in  proper  order  and  perspective.  The  reader 
may  review  this  classification  by  glancing  at  the  table  of  contents. 
Chapter  V,  Section  4-  In  another  state  where  uniform  num- 
bering, even  for  the  first  five-year  or  ten-year  period,  did  not 
appear  to  be  desirable,  an  "  expansive  "  decimal  system,  such  as 
that  which  can  be  found  in  agricultural  college  libraries,  might  be 
preferred  In  the  absence  of  books  especially  adapted  to  the  proj- 
ect plan  of  teaching,  this  classification  and  this  assignment  of  entry 


A   STATE   AGRICULTURAL   PROJECT   STUDY   BIBLIOGRAPHY       137 

numbers  for  state-wide  use  have  been  highly  valuable  aids  to  rapid 
and  steady  progress. 

This  bibliography  and  its  supplements  are  not  available  for  general 
distribution.  The  lists  have  been  so  widely  requested  and  so  strongly 
commended  that  printing  them  here  is  believed  to  be  warranted. 
Let  it  only  be  remembered  that  needs  of  Massachusetts  were  the  de- 
termining factors  in  both  the  choice  of  materials  and  the  plan  of  their 
presentation. 

I.    Approved  Agricultural  Papers  and  Periodicals 

Each  vocational  agricultural  library  should  regularly  receive  such 
current  literature  as  that  here  listed.  The  pupils  should,  moreover, 
be  encouraged  to  subscribe  for  those  publications  which  promise  to 


Fig.  07.  —  Landscape  planting  plan  for  i6-acrc  tract  set  apart  for  buildings,  lawns,  athletic 
field,  walks,  and  drives  has  been  adopted.  Pupils  working  it  out  year  by  year.  Assists 
ornamental  planting  and  care  at  home.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 

be  most  useful  in  their  individual  home  work.     Club  rates  may  gen- 
erally be  secured  where  several  persons  subscribe  together. 

In  order  to  place  their  literature  regularly  before  the  entire  school 
or  department,  these  publishers  may  be  wilHng  to  send  the  literature 
gratis  to  the  school  or  department  libraries.     This  privilege  should 


138 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


be  requested.  For  Massachusetts  purposes,  the  literature  here  named 
is  important  and  has  been  considered  sufficient ;  but  additions  or  sub- 
stitutions may  be  proposed  to  the  Board  of  Education  for  approval. 


Name  of  Publication 

Frequency  of 

Issue 

Publisher's  Address 

Price 

PER 

Year 

(i)  New  England  Homestead  .... 

Weekly  .     .     . 

Springfield,  Mass. 

$1  CO 

Practical  questions  answered  by 

New      England      Agricultural 

Experiment    Station     officers. 

Good  market  reports. 

(2)   Rural  New  Yorker 

Weekly  .    .     . 

New  York      .     .     . 

I  00 

Attentiongiven  to  live-stock,  vege- 

tables, and  fruit.  By  some  Mas- 

sachusetts men  esteemed  a  gen- 

eral farm  paper  second  to  none. 

(,3)   Breeder's  Gazette 

Weekly  .     .     . 

Chicago     .... 

2  00 

Held   to  be   "  the  ranking  stock 

paper  of  the  country." 

(4)  Hoard's  Dairyman 

Weekly  .     .     . 

Fort  Atkinson,  Wis. 

I  CO 

"  Accepted  as  the  best  all-round 

dairy  paper  published  in  this 

country." 

(5)   Market  Growers'  Journal  .... 

Weekly  .     .     . 

Louisville,  Ky.    .     . 

I  00 

A  Massachusetts  market  gardener 

says  of  tliis  paper  :   "A  strictly 

trade  paper.  .  .   .     Not  large. 

but  strictly  all '  meat  '  for  vege- 

table growers." 

(6)  The  Garden  Magazine 

Monthly     .     . 

Garden  City,  N.  Y. 

I  so 

Excellent  articles  on  home  gar- 

dening,   including    ornamental 

planting. 

# 

(7)   Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture  .... 

Twice  a  month 

Medina,    0.,    A.    I. 

I  00 

Valued    very    generally    by    bee- 

Root Company    . 

keepers. 

(8)   Wareham  Courier 

Weekly.     .     . 

Wareham,  Mass.     . 

I  SO 

Official   organ   of  the  Cape   Cod 

Cranberry    Growers'    Associa- 

tion. 

(g)  The  Better  Fruit 

Monthly     .     . 

Hood  River,  Ore.    . 

I  00 

Held  by  the  best  authority  on 

fruit  in  Massachusetts  to  be  "  a 

fine  thing  for  our  eastern  grow- 

ers to  take." 

(10)  Park  and  Cemetery,  and  Landscape 

Monthly     .     . 

Chicago     .... 

2  00 

Gardening 

■ 

■ 

"  The  best   periodical   dealing 

with  ornamental  planting." 

A   STATE   AGRICULTURAL   PROJECT   STUDY   BIBLIOGRAPHY       139 


^^1 


Fig.  98.  —  Between  the  Acts  —  Cutting  a  melon.     Hadley  Agricultural  Department. 


^^ 


Usual  Age  of  Boy, 


IS  or  Older 


y^ 


Usual  Age  of  Boy, 


14  or  Older 


Plant  Projects 
Elementary 


Kitchen    Gardening    and     Orna- 
mental Planting 
Vegetables  and  Small    Fruit   for 
Family  or  Sale. 

Making  Home  attractive 


.\nimal  Projects 
Elementar>' 


Animal  Husbandrj',  dealing  with 
Smaller  Animals,  such  as  Poul- 
try, Sheep  and  Goats,  Swine, 
Bees. 

Working  for  a  Profit. 


Fig.  99.  —  Second  year  projects  for  schools  in  all  years;  and  for  first  and  second  year  boys 
in  high  school  departments  in  odd  years,  focus  upon  production  of  smaller  farm  animals. 
Boy  may  continue  plant  projects,  and  in  them  learn  independence,  —  to  help  himself. 
Help  from  the  instructor  will  center  upon  the  animal  projects.  Investment  and  re- 
sponsibility greater  than  in  first  year ;  but  boy  is  head  taller,  and  bigger  in  every  way. 
In  first  or  second  year,  as  side-lines  of  efiFort,  with  incidental  advice  and  help  from  his 
instructor,  he  may  begin  keeping  records  of  cows,  feeding  balanced  rations,  pruning 
and  spraying.  His  main  school  business,  however,  for  each  year,  is  the  productive  work 
assigned  to  that  year.     See  pages  62-63. 


140 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


2.    Free  Bulletins,  Circulars,  and  Reports 


(i)  The  Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Education. — The  "Smith 
Hughes  Act  "  appropriates  funds  "  for  the  purpose  of  making  studies, 
investigations,  and  reports  to  aid  in  the  organization  and  conduct  of 
vocational  education."  Each  school  and  department  should  keep  a 
complete  file  of  the  literature  published  pursuant  to  this  Act.  Re- 
quests for  this  Hterature  should  be  addressed  to  the  Federal  Board  for 
Vocational  Education,  Washington,  D.  C. 

(2)  The  United  States  Bureau  of  Education  has  closely  followed 
the  development  of  vocational  agricultural  education  of  secondary 


Fig.  loo.  SeL-iiulvLar  projeet-  wIiilIi  deal  with  smaller  farm  animals  may  include  sheep. 
Franklin  Johnson's  home  project.  34  sheep.  Sheep  raising  is  receiving  increasing  at- 
tention in  parts  of  Massachusetts.    Petersham  Agricultural  Department. 

grade.  The  report  of  the  commissioner  for  191 1  contains  ''a 
complete  summary  of  the  status  of  secondary  agriculture  in  each 
State,"  and  "  a  description  of  some  types  of  secondary  agricultural 
schools."  The  agricultural  instructors  should  apply  on  behalf  of 
their  school  or  department  libraries  for  such  of  the  free  publications 
of  the  Bureau  as  bear  upon  vocational  agricultural  training  in 
secondary  schools. 

Applications  should  be  addressed  to  the  United  States  Commissioner 
of  Education,  Washington,  D.  C. 

(3)  The  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  issues  three 
regular  series  of  bulletins  and  other  documents  related  to  the  work  of 


A   STATE  AGRICULTURAL   PROJECT  STUDY  BIBLIOGRAPHY      141 

di\asions.     A.    The  Farmers^  Bulletins  are  issued  in  large  editions  and 
may  be  secured  free  by  either  teachers  or  pupils. 

B.  Professional  papers  known  as  Department  Bulletins  deal  with 
special  subjects  which  interest  a  hmited  group.  The  free  edition  is 
limited,  but  copies  may  usually  be  had  at  small  cost  by  addressing  the 
Superintendent  of  Documents,  Government  Printing  Ofl&ce,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C. 

C.  The  Journal  of  Agricultural  Research  is  technical  in  nature  and 
would  be  of  little  value  to  pupils  in  high  schools.  Occasiojial  numbers 
will  be  of  value  to  indi\ddual  instructors. 

The  Division  of  Publications  issues  each  month  a  list  of  the  publi- 
cations of  the  preceding  month.     It  also  issues  the  Farmers'  Bulletin 


Fig.  ioi.  —  Harold  Legare,  17.  His  first  litter  from  his  first  pair  of  pure-breds.  ^Mother 
bit  thin,  because  doing  double  duty  of  nursing  her  young  and  subduing  rough  land  for 
cultivation.  Now  has  ninety  head.  Refused  job  as  herdsman  on  farm  breeding  Berk- 
shires,  in  order  to  develop  his  home  projects.     Petersham  Agricultural  Department. 

list  which  is  revised  frequently.  Any  person  may  have  his  name 
placed  on  the  mailing  list  to  receive  these  announcements  by  apply- 
ing to  the  Editor-in-Chief,  Division  of  Publications,  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture,  Washington,  D.  C. 


142 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


The  division  of  Agricultural  Instruction  of  the  States  Relations  Serv- 
ice issues  multigraphed  Usts  of  Department  pubHcations,  classified  for 
the  use  of  teachers,  and  these  are  frequently  revised.  The  same  divi- 
sion has  documents  for  secondary  schools,  lantern  slide  service  Hsts, 
and  other  helps  which  will  be  mailed  as  issued  to  institutions  request- 
ing them.  Lists  of  references  for  specific  problems  related  to  agri- 
cultural  education  are  prepared  and'  sent  in   typewritten  form  in 


Fig.  I02. — John  Chadwick's  pig  and  orchard  project  at  home.  Pigs  cleaning  up  windfalls 
and  destroying  wormy  fruit.  Inexpensive  cultivation.  Growthy  condition.  Finished 
off  in  small  pen  on  home-grown  feeds.     Essex  County  Agricultural  School. 

response  to  special  requests.  Other  divisions  of  this  Service  issue 
club  Uterature  and  other  pubHcations  which  are  not  listed  monthly 
since  they  are  for  limited  distribution. 

The  Yearbook  of  the  Department  is  of  much  value  and  may  best 
be  obtained  from  the  Members  of  Congress.  Weather  maps,  crop 
reports,  and  other  special  publications  should  be  obtained  from  the 
several  bureaus.  Of  unusual  value  is  a  recent  "  Contribution  from 
Office  of  Farm  Management  "  entitled  "  Geography  of  the  World's 


A   STATE   AGRICULTURAL   PROJECT  STUDY   BIBLIOGRAPHY      143 

Agriculture."  This  is  profusely  illustrated  and  should  be  in  every 
agricultural  school  and  department  library. 

(4)  The  Agricultural  Experiment  Stations  also  issue  literature  of 
value  to  progressive  farmers,  and  therefore  of  value  in  the  project 
method  of  training.  In  Connecticut  and  in  New  York  there  are  two 
such  stations  ;  in  every  state  there  is  at  least  one. 

While  many  institutions  desire  to  avoid  heavy  demands  from  outside 
their  states,  sharp  lookout  should  be  kept  for  such  Hterature.  Such 
a  lookout  may  be  kept  by  means  of  the  "  Card  Index  of  Experi- 
ment Station  Literature,"  which  is  pubUshed  by  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture.  Thirty-seven  thousand  six  hundred 
cards  have  already  been  printed.^  Each  agricultural  school  and  de- 
partment library  should  include  partial  sets  of  these  index  cards. 

>  In  order  to  show  the  exact  nature  of  the  clews  to  station  literature,  pertinent  in  one 
respect  or  another  to  Massachusetts  farming  projects,  which  this  card  index  afifords,  the 
subject  matter  on  four  cards  is  here  printed.     These  cards  are  of  uniform  size,  2"X  5" 

Index  Card  31806. 


"Poultry  Appliances,  Labor  saving," — J.  E.  Rice  and  C.  A.  Rogers. 
"New  York  Cornell  Bui.  No.  284,  Nov.,  iQio,  pp.  51    


"Directions  are  given  for  the  construction  of  inexpensive,  unpatented  labor-sa\- 
ing  devices  for  poultry  raising.  They  include  feeding  and  watering  devices,  pedi- 
gree and  egg-collecting  appliances,  catching  and  carrying  devices,  shipping  pack- 
ages, coops  for  sitting  hens,  fattening  coops,  a  rack  for  sprouted  oats,  a  burglar-alarm 
system,  and  an  improved  kilHng  and  picking  box." 


Index  Card  31810. 


"Milk  Pails,  Covered,  Tests."  —  H.  A.  Harding,  J.  K.  Wilson  and  G.  A.  Smith. 
"New  York  State  Bui.  No.  326,  Dec.,  iqio,  pp.  249-381,  pis.  4   


"A  report  of  experiments  to  determine  the  effect  on  the  germ  content  of  using  im- 
proved milk  pails.  More  than  one-half  the  infection  that  milk  receives  during  the 
milking  process  can  be  prevented  by  use  of  a  covered  pail.  Such  a  pail,  less  than 
I  2  inches  high  and  provided  with  an  elliptical  opening  7  by  5  inches,  is  practically  as 
convenient  for  milk  as  the  open  pail.  Such  a  cover  can  be  placed  on  an  open  pail 
by  any  tinsmith  at  very  little  expense.  This  pail  is  inexpensive,  durable,  easily 
cleaned,  and  one  of  the  most   efhcicnt  in  keeping  bacteria  out  of  milk." 


144  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

No  complete  sets  of  these  index  cards  are  available,  but  in- 
complete sets  that  are  short  about  ten  thousand  cards  pertaining 
to  the  earlier  station  literature  may  be  purchased  through  the  Office 
of  Experiment  Stations  at  $2.00  per  thousand  cards,  with  an  addi- 
tional charge  of  $1.25  for  a  set  of  colored  division  cards.  Cards 
dealing  with  certain  divisions  of  this  index,  as  "  Poultry,"  "  Fer- 
tilizers," and  the  like,  may  be  purchased  at  the  cost  of  $3.00  per 
thousand  cards. 

Complete  information  in  reference  to  the  method  of  purchasing 
this  card  index,  together  with  the  number  of  cards  available,  and  a 
key  containing  the  system  of  classification  will  be  sent  on  application 
to  the  Office  of  Experiment  Stations,  States  Relations  Service,  United 
States  Department  of  Agricuhure,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Index  Card  31831- 


'Vegetable  Garden.  "  —  W.  H.  Wicks. 

'Idaho  Bill.  No.  6q,  Aug.,  1910,  pp.  49,fiss.  10,  dgms.  2 


"The  record  for  two  years  is  given  of  a^  acre  vegetable  garden  established  in  the 
spring  of  1908  on  the  horticultural  grounds  of  the  Idaho  station.  The  value  of  the 
products  in  1008  was  $82.19,  with  net  profits  of  $5741 ;  in  1909,  $98.38,  with  net 
profits  of  $79.22.  The  conclusion  is  reached  that  by  judicious  arrangement  of  the 
garden  a  continuous  supply  of  vegetables  may  be  secured  throughout  the  season. 
A  plan  is  given  of  a  farmer's  vegetable  garden,  together  with  cultural  suggestions  on 
farm  garden  crops  and  recommended  varieties." 


Index  Card  3iQ43 


"Feeding  Experiments  with  Pigs."  —  A.  L.  Stabler. 
"Maryland  Bui.  No.  150,  Jan.,  igii,  pp.  93-120,  fig.  i. 


"Pigs  fed  silage  made  faster  gains  than  those  fed  ground  fodder  mixed  with  their 
feed.  Young  pigs  made  faster  gains  on  corn  meal  and  skim  milk  than  on  shelled  corn 
and  skim  milk.  Pigs  fed  mixed  grain  soaked  twenty-four  hours  made  faster  and 
more  economical  gains  than  those  fed  the  same  mixture  dry  or  fresh  soaked.  Chopped 
alfalfa  failed  to  take  the  place  of  a  part  of  the  middUngs  in  a  ration  consisting  of 
shelled  corn,  wheat  middlings,  and  skim  milk.  Soft  coal  in  unlimited  quantities 
seemed  unharmful  for  pigs  in  pent.  The  use  of  a  tonic  mixture,  wood  charcoal,  and 
soft  coal  as  correctives  increased  gains.     Other  feeding  tests  are  reported." 


A   STATE   AGRICULTURAL   PROJECT    STUDY    BIBLIOGRAPHY       145 

Massachusetts  Agricultural  Experiment  Station  literature,  of 
course,  is  covered  by  the  card  index  above  described.  Following  is 
a  list  of  the  bulletins  and  circulars  now  available : 

Bulletins  and  their  numbers: 

133.  Green  Crops  for  Summer  Soiling. 

144.  Relation  of  Light  to  Greenhouse  Culture. 

150.  Report  of  Experimental  Work  in  Connection  with  Cranberries,  1913. 

153.  Summary  of  Meteorological  Records  for  Twentj^-five  Years  (1889-1913). 

154.  Alfalfa. 

158.  The  Composition,  Digestibility  and  Feeding  Value  of  Molassine  Meal, 
Cottonseed  Meal  and  Hulls,  Cocoa  Shells,  Grain  Screenings,  Flax 
Shives,  Mellen's  Food  Refuse  and  Postum  Cereal  Residue  (CXX  Feed). 


Fig.   103.  —  Chester  White  brood  sow  on  good  pasture.     Essex  County  School. 

160.  Report  of  Cranberry  Substation  for  1914. 

162.  Phosphates  in  Mass.  Agriculture;    Importance,  Selection  and  Use. 

166.  Improved  Methods  for  Fat  Analysis. 

167.  I.    The  Relation  of  Hydrogen  Ion  Concentration  of  Media  to  the  Pro- 

teolytic Activity  of  Bacillus  Subtilis.  II.  Proteolysis  of  Strept. 
Erysipelatis  and  Strept.  Lacticus  Compared  under  Different  Hydrogen 
Ion  Concentration. 

168.  Report  of  Cranberry  Substation  for  1915- 

170.  Shade  Trees,  Characteristics,  .\daptation.  Diseases  and  Care. 

171.  A  Chemical  Study  of  the  Asparagus  Plant. 


146 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


172.    Experiments  in  Keeping  Asparagus  after  Cutting. 

174.  The  Composition,  Digestibility  and  Feeding  \alue  of  Pumpkins. 

175.  Mosaic  Disease  of  Tobacco. 

176.  The  Cause  of  the  Injurious  Effect  of  Sulfate  of  Ammonia  when  Used  as  a 

Fertilizer. 

<77.    Potato  Plant  Lice  and  Their  Control. 

£78.    The  European  Corn  Borer  {Pyraiista  nubilalis  Hubner),  a  Recently  Es- 
tablished Pest  in  Massachusetts. 


Fig.  104.  —  -A.  vigorous  Chester  White  Htter.     Essex  County  Agricultural  School. 


179.  The  Greenhouse  Red  Spider  Attacking  Cucumbers,  and  ^lethods  for  Its 

Control. 

180.  Report  of  the  Cranberry  Substation  for  1916;  and  Observations  on  the 

Spoilage  of  Cranberries  Due  to  Lack  of  Proper  Ventilation. 

181.  Digestion  Experiments  «Tth  Sheep. 

Control  Bulletins: 

7.  Inspection  of  Commercial  Feedstuffs,  191 7. 

8.  Inspection  of  Commercial  Fertilizers,  191 7. 

Circulars  and  their  numbers : 

44.  Suggestions  for  Judging  Agricultural  Adaptation  and  Value  of  Land. 

45.  Chemical  Analysis  of  Soils. 

59.  The  Use  of  Fertilizers  in  1916. 

60.  Suggestions   for   the    Use   of    Fertilizers   for   Tobacco   and    Onions   for 

1916. 
63.    Balanced  Rations  for  Dairy  Stock. 


I 


A   STATE   AGRICULTURAL   PROJECT   STUDY   BIBLIOGRAPHY      147 

Applications  for  these  and  future  publications  of  like  character 
should  be  addressed  to  the  Director  of  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural 
Experiment  Station,  Amherst,  Mass. 


Fig.  105.  —  Examination  of  brain  of  pig  that  died  of  unusual  disease.  Professional 
veterinarian  operating.  Instructor  Blodgett  said,  "Of  course  the  farm  biologj'  teacher 
was  on  hand,  and  several  very  practical  lessons  in  anatomy  and  physiology  were  taught 
in  such  a  way  as  not  soon  to  be  forgotten."     Essex  County  Agricultural  School. 

(5)  The  Extension  Service  of  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  Col- 
lege publishes  at  irregular  intervals  bulletins  and  circulars  on  agri- 
cultural subjects  written  by  specialists  of  the  college  faculty.  These 
are  issued  for  residents  of  Massachusetts  and  for  conditions  found 
within  the  state.     Following  is  a  recent  Hst: 

Extension  circulars: 

5.  The  Control  of  Onion  Diseases  and  Thrips. 

7.  Control  of  Diseases  and  Injurious  Insects  of  Stone  Fruits. 

8.  Control  of  Diseases  and  Injurious  Insects  of  Potatoes. 

9.  Molasses  for  Farm  Stock. 

10.  The  Feeding  Value  of  Apple  Pomace. 

11.  Civic  Improvement  in  \'illage  and  Country. 

12.  A  Guide  to  Reading  in  English  Paction. 

13.  Soils  and  Fertilizers  for  Cabbage,  Cauliflower  and  Other  Crucifers. 

14.  Classified  List  of  Available  Farmers'  Bulletins. 

15.  How  to  Grow-  More  Corn  per  Acre. 

16.  Plans  for  Family  Garden. 

17.  Hogs  on  Every  Farm  in  1917. 


148 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


I8. 
19. 
20. 
21. 

22. 

24. 

25- 
26. 


Have  You  a  Backyard  Poultry  Flock? 

The  Farm  Poultry  Flock  in  1917. 

Mass.  Farmers  —  Raise  More  Corn  in  191 7. 

Plant  Beans  in  1917- 

Planting  Table  for  the  Home  Vegetable  Garden. 

Farmer's  Home  Garden. 

Boys'  and  Girls'  Club  Garden. 

Cropping  and  Fertilizer  Suggestions  for  191 7. 

Present  Poultry  Situation. 


Fig.  106.  —  Half  a  hundredweight  of  honey  a  season  may  be  expected  from  a  single  hive 
of  bees.  Boys  and  girls  readily  learn  to  handle  bees  and  care  for  them.  In  well-planned 
farming  they  are  important  side-lines  to  vegetable  and  fruit-growing  projects.  A  group 
exercise.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 


27. 
28. 
3°- 
31- 

23- 

34- 
35- 
36. 
37- 


Potato  Growing. 

Importance  of  Dairy  Cow. 

Seeding  Mowings. 

Cutworms. 

Fruit  Products. 

The  Dairy  Problem. 

Spraying  Apparatus  —  Materials. 

Bean  Diseases  and  Insects. 

Substitutes  for  Milk  in  Raising  Calves. 

Methods  of  Saving  Fats. 


A  STATE   AGRICULTURAL   PROJECT   STUDY   BIBLIOGRAPHY       149 

38.  Canning  of  Fruits  and  Vegetables. 

39.  Preparation  Wastes. 

40.  Table  Wastes. 

41.  Storage  Wastes. 

42.  Labor  Saving  Machinery. 

43.  Swine  Feeding. 


Fig.  107.— Robert  Sweet's  home  project.  "Safety  First,  "  —  giving  them  a  little  smoke 
before  opening  the  hive.  School  projects  help  home  projects,  or  fail  of  their  funda- 
mental purpose  in  Massachusetts.     North  Easton  Agricultural  Department. 


44 
45 
46 

47 
48 
49 


Do  You  Xeed  a  Silo  ? 

The  Home  V'egetable  Storage. 

Fruit  Products. 

How  to  Save  Wheat  Flour. 

Clover  and  Lime. 

Storage  for  Vegetables,  .\n  Outdoor  Pit. 


ISO 


VOCATIONAL    AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


50.  Potato  and  Cornstalk  Borer. 

51.  Winter  Rations  for  Laying  Hens  (low  stock). 

52.  Marketing  Cabbage  through  Sauerkraut. 

53.  Poultry  Manures,  Their  Use  and  Treatment. 

54.  Control  of  Weeds  by  Chemical  Treatment. 
56.  The  Soy  Bean. 

58.  Hotbeds  and  Cold  Frames. 

59.  Poultry  Farm  Disinfection. 

Boys  atid   girls  series: 

7.  A  Redirected  Rural  SchooL 

6.  Canning  and  Marketing. 

II.  Primer  of  Instruction,  Home  Ec.  Club. 


Extension  bulletins 
7.    The  Town  Common 

9 


Farm  Management  Demonstration  Work  in  Massachusetts. 


Fig.  108.  —  Part  of  poultry  plant  in  winter.  Trees  in  chicken  yards.  Hot-water  brooder 
house,  incubator  cellar,  room  for  caponizing,  killing,  dressing,  and  packing  for  market. 
Colony  houses  elsewhere.     Bristol  County  Agricultural  School. 


10. 
II. 
14. 

15- 
18. 
19. 


Advertising  the  Apple. 

Cost  of  Milk  Production. 

Cost  of  Milk  Distribution. 

Milk  :    A  Cheap  Food. 

Sterilization  of  Tobacco  Beds. 

Cost  of  Milk  Production  in  Massachusetts. 


Bulletins  for  farm  women  : 

I.    Announcement  and  List  of  Available  Lit.  in  Home  Ec. 
3.    The  Septic  Tank. 


A  STATE   AGRICULTURAL   PROJECT   STUDY   BIBLIOGRAPHY      151 


4.    Our  Daily  Food  (Low  stock). 
Educational   and   Demonstrational   Hog   Cholera   Work,  Hog  Cholera  and 

Its  Preventive  Treatment. 
The  above  publications  and  others  as  issued  may  be  had  by  addressing 
The  Director  of  the  Extension  Service,  Amherst,  Mass. 

(6)  The  Massachusetts  Board  of  Agriculture  publishes  agricultural 
bulletins  and  reports.  In  addition  to  the  annual  volumes,  the  Board 
of  Agriculture  has  printed  such  special  bulletins  as  the  following : 

1.  Poultry  Culture.  3.    Grasses  and  Forage  Crops. 

2.  Apple  Growing.  4.    Vegetable  Growing. 

It  has  also  published  circulars  on  various  agricultural  subjects,  and 
nature  leaflets. 

Applications  for  its  publications,  or  for  lists  of  those  available, 
should  be  addressed  to  the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  State  House, 
Boston,  Mass.  Copies 
may  be  had  not  only 
by  the  libraries,  but  also 
by  individual  agricul- 
tural pupils  in  Massa- 
chusetts. 

(7)  The  State  Forest- 
er's work  closely  con- 
cerns all  farmers  who 
are  confronting  the 
problems  of  protection 
against  brown-tail  and 
gypsy  m'oth  depreda- 
tions, of  protection 
against  forest  fires,  and 
of  economically  cropping 
their  wood  or  timber 
lots,   and    of    disposing 

of  lumber   to   their  best       ^^'^-  ^°^-  —  Harold  Ashley  and  his  hatch  on  the  school 
1  TT      V,  ■  farm.    He  is  now  Club  Leader  in  Farm  Bureau  Depart- 

aavantage.     L.ach  agn-        ^^^^  ^f  ^^  ^^j^^^j     ^^.j^^^,  q^^^^^  Agricultural 
cultural  school  and  de-        School. 


152 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


partment  should  keep  a  complete  file  of  the  State  Forester's  publi- 
cations.    Most  of  these  publications  are  fully  illustrated  and  may 
be  had  by  both  the  libraries  and  the  individual  agricultural  pupils. 
Following  are  the  publications  now  available  in  Massachusetts : 

The  Older  Forest  Plantations  in  Massachusetts. 

Forestry  in  Massachusetts. 

The  White  Pine  in  Massachusetts  (Log  scales;    volume  tables). 

Reforestation  in  Massachusetts. 

The  Chestnut  Bark  Disease  and  Chestnut  Utilization. 


Fig.  no.  — Poultry  projects  are  practically  universal  among  pupils  in  bolli  slIiooIs  and 
departments.  WUliam  Pierce,  Jr.,  i6.  Part  of  home  project.  Has  two  colony  houses. 
Also  potato  and  beet  projects.     Concord  Agricultural  Department. 

Improvement  Thinnings  (Gypsy  Moth  Thinning). 

How  to  Collect  Pine  Seed. 

Forest  Taxation  Law. 

Forest  Fire  Laws. 

Forests  of  Worcester  County. 

Forest  Fire  Notices. 

Forest  Trees  of  Massachusetts. 

Study  of  Trees  in  our  Primary  Schools. 

Forests  of  Plymouth  County  (In  preparation). 

The  Gypsy  Moth. 


A   STATE  AGRICULTURAL   PROJECT   STUDY   BIBLIOGRAPHY      1 53 

Parasites  of  the  Gypsy  and  Brown-tail  Moth. 

The  Brown-tail  Moth. 

The  Brown-tail  Fungus. 

Annual  Report  of  the  State  Forester. 

Applications  for  these  and  future  publications  should  be  addressed 
to  the  State  Forester,  State  House,  Boston,  Mass. 

3.    Text,  Exercise,  and  Reference  Books. 

Copies  of  the  books  hereafter  listed  in  this  bibliography  are  on 
file  in  the  agricultural  library  of  the  Board  of  Education,  where  they 
may  be  examined  by  school  oflScers.  Where  vocational  agricultural 
school   and  department  work  is   started,  certain  copies  should  be 


Fig.  III.  —  William  Pierce,  Jr.,  again.  Houses  for  mothers  and  chicks  in  young  orchard. 
Wire  fronts  closed  at  night  to  keep  cats  and  other  enemies  out.  Fruit  trees  pruned  and 
sprayed.     Concord  Agricultural  Department. 

provided  at  the  outset.  These  are  necessary  parts  of  an  approved 
equipment.  Others  may  be  added  in  succeeding  years,  until  an  ade- 
quate working  library  has  been  established. 

(i)  Instructor's  aid  necessary.  —  It  is,  of  course,  understood  that 
the  following  hsts  are  for  the  convenience  of  the  several  instructors, 


154 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


and  for  use  by  classes,  with  the  help,  step  by  step,  of  their  instructors. 
Reference  materials,  therefore,  suited  to  minds  of  different  grades  of 
maturity  have  been  included.  Some  have  been  successfully  used  in 
elementary  schools ;  others,  by  secondary  schools,  and  even  by  col- 
lege classes.  The  instructor's  intimate  knowledge  of  the  needs  and 
mental  capabilities  of  his  individual  boys  will  determine  his  assign- 
ment of  both  laboratory  exercises  and  reading  matter. 

(2)  Lists  subject  to  revision.  —  It  is  to  be  expected  that  from  time 
to  time  additions  to  these  lists  will  need  to  be  made.     Suggestions  as 


Fig.   112.  —  Part  of  Clarence  Goodnow's  pen  of  layers  in  poultry  club  contest.     Such  con- 
tests are  aids  to  efficient  agricultural  teaching.     Petersham  Agricultural  Department. 

to  usable  additions  are  earnestly  soHcited.  The  instructors  are  es- 
pecially requested  to  report  which  of  the  entries  here  included  prove 
best  suited  to  their  different  classes.  The  most  competent  revision 
of  these  lists  will  thus  be  assured. 

(3)  Prices  and  estimates.  —  Postage  or  express  charges  must  be 
added  where  prices  are  marked  "  net."  For  example,  "  The  Country- 
life  Movement,"  by  Prof.  L.  H.  Bailey,  listed  at  $1.25  net,  costs 
by  mail,  Si. 34.  Discounts  from  prices  not  marked  "net"  may 
usually   be   expected.     Book  dealers  carry  a  considerable   stock   of 


A  STATE  AGRICULTURAL   PROJECT  STUDY  BIBLIOGRAPHY      155 

many  of  the  books  named  in  these  Hsts,  and  are  very  glad  to  quote 
prices  on  books  to  be  dehvered  at  any  given  point  with  postage  or 
express  prepaid.  It  is  advisable  to  secure  estimates  from  the  pub- 
lishers or  from  reliable  dealers  before  ordering. ^ 

(4)  Student  purchases.  —  Prof.  L.  H.  Bailey,  in  addressing  winter 
short-course  students  at  the  Cornell  Agricultural  College,  is  reported 
to  have  said  that  he  hoped,  if  they  took  nothing  else  home,  they  would 
take  home  with  them  ten  or  twelve  dollars'  worth  of  good  books  deal- 
ing with  the  branches  of  practical  agricultural  production  which  they 
expected  to  follow.  A  similar  hope  might  well  be  expressed  on  behalf 
of  the  boys  who  seek  vocational  agricultural  training  in  schools  and 
departments. 

Fortunately  a  few  most  excellent  books  for  home  guidance  in  profit- 
able farm  work  are  now  to  be  had  at  moderate  cost.  The  agricultural 
instructors  may  properly  enough  seek  to  stimulate  the  boys  in  their 
classes  to  purchase  one  or  more  such  books  every  year.  Wise  guidance 
may  be  given  by  observing  which  books  actually  prove  to  be  most 
useful  to  the  indi\adual  boys  in  carrying  out  their  particular  home  farm 
projects. 

Pubhshers  will  undoubtedly  be  very  willing  to  allow  the  boys  their 
most  favorable  school  discounts,  especially  if  orders  are  forwarded 
through  the  school  purchasing  agent. 

(5)  Reference  numbers  —  First  column.  —  The  Arabic  numbers 
at  the  left  of  the  entries  are  for  convenience  in  referring  to  materials 
found  in  this  bibliography.- 

A.  Library  arrangement.  —  If  these  numbers  are  put  on  the  backs 
of  the  books,  it  is  not  necessary  to  consult  these  printed  lists  in  using 
the  agricultural  Hbrary.  The  pupil  or  instructor  may  go  directly  to 
the  books  themselves,  on  the  library  shelves.  In  cases  where  schools 
already  have  libraries  and  systems  of  numbering,  these  special  numbers 
may  be  added  by  the  price  tag  device  sho\\Ti  in  Fig.  51  on  p.  65  during 
the  time  the  books  are  at  the  disposal  of  the  agricultural  department. 

1  Prof.  G.  F.  Warren,  "Elements  of  Agriculture,"  pp.  402,  403  (see  below,  No.  5),  lists 
a  foundation  set  of  secondary  school  agricultural  reference  books  purchasable  for  about  $50. 

'  A  similar  use  of  numbers  for  ready  reference  has  been  made  in  "  Laboratory  Exercises 
in  Farm  Management,"  by  Warren  and  Livermore. 


156 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


B.    Project  outlines.  —  In  the  suggestive  outlines  for  project  in- 
struction in  the  foregoing  chapter  the  following  entries  are  referred 


1.-IG.  113.  —  Home  project.  Open  front  house  on  hillside,  near  running  brook  and  among 
large  deciduous  trees.  Shady  in  summer  and  sunny  in  winter.  No  two  home  projects 
alike.     Ashfield  Agricultural  Department. 

to  by  number,  not  by  title.     Instructors  in  their  own  outline  mak- 
ing have  found  it  convenient  to  use  these  numbers. 

C.    Library  card  indexes.  —  At  the  pleasure  of  the  school  officers, 
card  indexes  by  authors  and  by  titles  may  be  made.     The  author 


A   STATE  AGRICULTURAL   PROJECT   STUDY   BIBLIOGRAPHY      1 57 


index  may  then  be  arranged  alphabetically  by  names ;  and  the  title 
index  may  be  alphabetically  arranged  by  subjects,  such  as  "  Dairy- 
ing," "  Vegetable  Growing,"  and  "  Fruit  Growing."  In  such  a  case, 
the  books  themselves  would  remain  in  the  numerical  order  here 
adopted,  and  each  card  would  bear  the  num- 
ber assigned  the  particular  title  in  these 
lists.  Any  book,  for  example,  could  thus  be 
found  instantly ;  and,  after  use,  could  be 
returned  to  its  proper  place  by  simply 
looking  at  its  number. 

D.  Future  entries.  —  Gaps  in  the  num- 
bering have  been  left  for  the  possible  addi- 
tion of  future  entries.^  Missing  numbers, 
however,  will  occasion  no  confusion.  The 
simple  numerical  order  may  determine  the 
arrangement,  even  though  now  and  then  a 
gap  may  appear  between  entries. 

(6)  Reference  numbers  —  Fourth  col- 
umn. —  The  numbers  following  the  title:- 
refer  to  the  corresponding  numbers  at  the 
left  of  the  names  of  the  publishers  of  the 
respective  entries.  Needless  repetition  of 
the  full  names  and  addresses  of  pubUshers 
is  thus  avoided.  A  complete  list  of  the 
publishers  and  their  addresses  immediately 
follows  the  reference  lists.  (See  pages 
176-177.) 

(7)  State  help  and  approval. — The  State 
Supervisor  of  agricultural   education  will 
from  year  to  year  advise  those  who  need 
his  help  in  making  approved  selections  from  these  lists,  and  in  the  num 
bering,  indexing,  and  arrangement  of  agricultural  library  materials. 


Fig.  114.  —  Neither  land  nor 
live-stock  at  this  high  school. 
But  note  bulletin  board  kept 
in  "project  study"  room. 
Home  land  and  live-stock  are 
worked  with.  Vincent  Hatch 
has  a  poultry  project.  North 
Easton  Agricultural  Depart- 
ment. 


'Some  of  the  gaps  originally  were  fdled  by  numbers  assigned  pamphlet  materials,  such 
as  bulletins,  circulars,  and  reports.  Only  Ijooks  have  been  given  entry  numbers  in  the  pres- 
ent chapter.  All  other  mt)re  or  less  ephemeral  materials  are  card  indexed  and  filed  for 
ready  references,  by  the  individual  instructors. 


158 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


4.   Agricultural  Project  Study  Bibliography,  Arranged  for  Ready 

Reference  ^ 

(I )— TEXTBOOKS  APPROVED  FOR  FIRST  AND  SECOND  YEAR  AGRICUL- 
TURAL  SURVEY  (Choose  one  or  more) 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

I 

I 

Mann,  A.  R.     .     .     . 

"  Beginnings  in  Agriculture  "... 

14== 

$    60  net 

2 
3 
4 
41 

Mayne  and  Hatch  .     . 
Waters,  H.J.     .     .     . 

Grim,  J.  S 

Benson  and  Bclt^    .     . 

"  High  School  Agriculture  "   .     .     .     . 
"  Essentials  0/  A gricultur,'"   .     .     .     . 
"  Elementary  Agriculture  "     .     .     .     . 
"  Agriculture  " 

54 

29 

107 

108 

/  00 

I  25 

I  25 

I  25 

(2)  —TEXTBOOKS    APPROVED    FOR    THIRD    AND    FOURTH    YEAR    AGRI- 
CULTURAL   SURVEY    (Choose  one  or  more) 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

5 

Warren,  G.  F.   .     .     . 

"  Elements  of  Agriculture  "... 

14 

$1  10  net 

6 

7 
8 

9 

Warren,G.F.    .     .     . 
Harper,  M.W. 
Sampson,  H.  O.      .     . 

"  Farm  Management  " 

"  Animal  Husbandry  for  Schools  "  . 
"  Effective  Farming  " 

14 
14 
14 

/  40  net 
I  12  nel 
I  32  net 

^  The  entries  above  the  dotted  lines  are  arranged  alphabetically  by  authors,  by  states  or 
by  government  divisions,  bureaus,  or  offices.  Space  below  the  dotted  lines  was  reserved  for 
additions  to  the  original  entries.     The  additions  made  are  in  italics. 

2  The  numbers  in  this  column  are  those  assigned  the  various  pubH^ers.  For  the  list 
of  publishers  and  their  addresses  to  which  these  numbers  refe>,  see  pp.  176-177. 


A   STATE  AGRICULTURAL   PROJECT   STUDY   BIBLIOGRAPHY      159 


(3)  —  FOR  FIRST  AND   SECOND   YEAR   STUDY  OF   PROJECTS  IN 

A.   Vegetable  Growing 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 


10 
II 
16 
23 
24 
25 
26 

27 
29 
32 
33 
34 
36 
37 
38 

39 

40 


Author 


Allen,  C.  L.       . 
Bailey,  L.  H.     . 
Bennett,  Ida  D. 
Fraser,  Sam'l    . 
French,  Allen    . 
Fullerton,  E.  L. 
Green,  Samuel  B 
Greiner,  T.  .     . 
Hexamer,  F.  M. 
Morse,  J.  E. 
Rexford,  E.  E. 
Roberts,  Harry 
Sevey,  G.  C. 
Sevey,  G.  C. 
Vilmorin-Andrieux 
Watts,  R.  L.     . 
Wicks,  W.  H.    . 


Title 


Cabbages,  Cauliflower,  etc."  . 
Manual  of  Gardening  "  .  . 
The  Vegetable  Garden  "    .     . 

The  Potato  " 

How  to  Grow  Vegetables  " 
How  to  Make  a  Vegetable  Garden 
Vegetable  Gardening  "  .     .     . 
How  to  Make  the  Garden  Pay 

'  Asparagus  " 

The  New  Rhubarb  Culture  " 
The  Home  Garden  "... 
The  Beginner's  Book  of  Gardening 

Bean  Culture  " 

Peas  and  Pea  Culture  "      .     . 
The  Vegetable  Garden  "    . 
Vegetable  Gardening  "       .     . 
Vegetable  Garden  "  . 


Pub- 
lisher 


15 
14 
i6 

15 
14 
16 

17 
18 

IS 
15 
19 
20 

IS 
IS 

21 

IS 

22 


Price 


»    50 
2  00  net 
1  50  net 
7S 

1  7S  net 

2  00  net 
I  00 

I  00  net 
50  net 

SO 
I  25  net 
I  00  net 

50 

SO  net 

3  75  net 
I  75  net 


41 
42 

43 
44 
45 
46 
47 
48 
49 


Meier,  W.  U.  D. 
Grubb  and  Guilford 
Gregory,  J.  J.  H. 
Gregory,  J.  J.  11. 
Greiner,  T.    . 
Tracy,  W.  W .    . 
Troop,  J. 
Terry,  T.  B.,  el  al 
Gilbert,  A.W.,etal 


School  and  Home  Gardens  " 

The  Potato  " 

Cabbages  and  Cauliflowers  " 
Squashes :  How  to  Grow  Them 
NewOnijn  Culture  "  .     . 
Tomato  Culture  "  .     . 
Melon  Culture"     .     . 
A  B  C  of  Potato  Culture  " 
The  Potato  "      .     .     .     . 


2Q 

16 
103 
103 
'5 
15 
15 
23 
'4 


80  . 

30 
30 
60 
60 
60 

75 
I  20  net 


B.    Small  Frmt  Growing 
(See  also  Reference  No.  41) 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

SO 
56 
59 
63 

64 

Card,  Fred  W.       .     . 
Green,  S.  B.      .     .     . 
Maynard,  S.  T.      .     . 
Waugh,  F.  A.    .     .     . 

White,  J.  J.       .     .     . 

"  Bush  Fruits  " 

"  Popular  Fruit  Growing  "    .     .     .     . 
"  Successful  Fruit  Culture  "... 
"  Fruit,  Harvesting,  Storing,  and  Mar- 
keting " 

"  Cranberry  Culture  " 

14 
17 
IS 

IS 
IS 

•Si  so  net 
I  00 
I  00 

I  00 
I  00 

65 
66 
67 

Wilkinson,  A .  E.    .     . 
Biggie,  J 

Fletcher,  S.  W.        .     . 

"  Modern  Strawberry  Growing"  .     .     . 

"  Biggie  Berry  Book  " 

"  Strawberry  Growing  " 

16 

99 

J4 

50 
I  40  net 

i6o 


VOCATION.\L  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


C.  Beekeeping 


Refer- 
ence 
Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

71 
73 

Comstock,  A.  B.    .     . 
Root,  A.  I.  and  E.  R. 

"  How  to  Keep  Bees  " 

"  The  A  B  C  and  X  Y  Z  of  Bee  Cul- 
ture "      

16 
23 

Si  00 
I  50  net 

74 

Potter,  T.C.       ... 

"  Qiiecnie,    the    Autobiography    of   an 
Italian  Queen  Bee  " 

112 

75  net 

D.   Poultry  Keeping 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 


80 

81 
83 

84 
85 

93 
96 

97 
100 

lOI 

102 

104 


Author 


Title 


American  Poultrj' 

sociation  .     . 
Beale,  Stephen 
Boyer,  M.  K.    . 
Brigham,  A.  A. 
Brown,  Edward 


As- 


Powell,  E.  C.    . 
Robinson,  J.  H. 

Sando,  R.  B 
Stoddard,  H.  H. 
Valentine,  C.  S 
Watson,  G.  C. 
Wright.  Lewis  . 


The  American  Standard  of  Perfec- 
tion "       

Profitable  Poultry  Keeping  "       .     . 

Money  in  Broilers  and  Squabs  " 

Progressive  Poultry  Culture  "     .     . 

Poultry  Keeping  as  an  Industry  for 
Farmers  and  Cottagers "    .     .     . 

Making  Poultry  Pay  " 

Principles  and  Practice  of  Poultry 
Culture  " 

American  Poultry  Culture  "   .     .     . 

The  New  Egg  Farm  " 

How  to  Keep  Hens  for  Profit "     .     . 

Farm  Poultry  " 

The  Practical  Poultry  Keeper."  .     . 


Pub- 
lisher 


24 
25 
26 

27 

28 
IS 

29 
91 
15 
14 
14 
30 


Price 


Si  00 
I  so  net 

6s 

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2  00  net 

I   25 

I  00 
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1  25  net 
___87__ 

2  50 
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I  50 
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1  35 

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2  00  net 


105 

106 

107 

108 

109 

109. 1 

109  2 

109.3 

1094 

1095 
109  6 
109  7 
1098 


Howard  and  McGrew 
Lewis.  H.  R. 
Valetitine,  C.  S. 
Robinson,  J.  H. 
Various  A  uthors 
Funis,  MUlcr    . 
Kains,  M.  G.     . 
Laurie,  D.  F.     . 
Collingwood,  H.  W. 

et  al.     .     .     . 
J 00s,  Robert 
Robinson.  J.  H . 
Hogan,  Walter   . 
Lippincott,  W .  A. 


Perfected  Poultry  "... 
Productive  Poultry  Husbandry 
Beginner  in  Poultry  "  .  . 
Poultry  Craft  "  .... 
The  Poultry  Book  "... 
Poultry  Breeding  "  .  .  . 
Profitable  Poultry  Production  " 
Poultry  Feeds  and  Feeding  " 


'  The  Business  Hen  "    . 
'  Success  with  Hens  "    . 
'  Domestic  Birds  "    . 
■  The  Cell  of  the  Hen  " 
'  Poultry  Production  " 


94 
IQ 
14 
95 
16 

33 
'5 
30 

104 
98 

2Q 
III 
106 


A   STATE   AGRICULTURAL   PROJECT   STUDY   BIBLIOGRAPHY       l6l 


E.    Sheep  Husbandry 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

m 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

"3 
114 

Wing,  J.  E.        .     .     . 
Wing,  J.  E.,  el  al. 

"  Sheep  Farming  in  America  "... 
"  The  Winter  Lamb  " 

31 

32 

$1  00 

"5 
116 

117 

Craig,  J.  A. 
Kkinheinz,  F.    .     .     . 

Coffey,  W.  C.      .      .      . 

"  Sheep  Farming  " 

"  Sheep  Management,  Breeds  and  Judg- 
ing for  Schools  " 

"  Productive  Sheep  Husbandry  "       .     . 

14 

no 
19 

I  20  net 
I  50  net 

F.    Swine  Husbandry 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

120 

121 
122 

Coburn,  F.  D. 
Craig,  R.  A.      ... 
Dietrich,  Wm.       .     . 

-- 

■'  Swine  in  America  " 

"  Diseases  of  Swine  " 

"  Swine  " 

15 
15 

33, 

S2  so  net 
75 

124 

Day,  G.E 

"  Produclive'Swine  Husbandry  "      .     . 

19 

J  75 

G.    Ornamental  Planting 
(See  also  References  No.  34  and  41) 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

.\uthor 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

130 
134 
135 

138 
139 

140 

142 

144 

Bennett,  I.  D    .     .     . 

Ely,  H.  R 

Fernow,  B.  E.  .      .      . 

Kirkgaard,  John    .     . 
Maynard,  S.  T.      .     . 

Miller,  Wilhelm     .     . 

Sedgwick,  Mabel  C.  . 
Waugh,  F.  A.    .     .     . 

"  The  Flower  Garden  " 

"  The  Practical  Flower  Garden  "  .  . 
"  The  Care  of  Trees  in  Lawn,  Street 

and  Park  " 

"  A  Guide  for  the  Gardener"  .  .  . 
"  Landscape  Gardening  as  applied  to 

Home  Decoration  " 

"  What  England  Can  Teach  Us  about 

Gardening " 

"  The  Garden  Month  by  Month  "  '. 
"  Landscape  Gardening  "      .... 

16 
14 

34 
35 

36 

16 
37 
15 

$1  10  net 

2  00 

• 

2  00 
2  50  net 

I  50 

4  00  net 
4  04  net 
60 

M 


l62 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


(4)— FOR   THIRD   AND   FOURTH   YEAR    STUDY   OF   PROJECTS   IN 

A.   Animal  Husbandry 

(See  also  references  above,  No.  71  f.,  No.  80  f.,  No.  113  f.,  and  No.  120  f.) 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 


159 
162 

164 
166 

175 
176 
179 
182 
184 
187 
189 
191 

195 
196 
197 
198 
199 
201 
208 
209 


Author 


Coburn,  F.  D. 
Craig,  J.  A.  .     .     . 
Dondlinger,  P.  T. 
Gurler,  H.  B.    .     . 
Johnstone,  J.  H.  S. 
Lane,  C.  B.       .     . 
Lyon  &  Montgomery 
Michels,  John   . 
Myrick,  Herbert    . 
Plumb,  C.  S.     .     . 
Plumb,  C.  S.     .     . 
Roberts,  LP..     . 
Shaw,  Thos. 
Shaw,  Thos. 
Shaw,  Thos. 
Shaw,  Thos. 
Van  Norman,  H.  E. 
Voorhees,  Ed.  B.   . 
Harper,  M.  W. 
Rose,  Laura      .     . 


Title 


Alfalfa" 

Judging  Live  Stock  " 

The  Book  of  Wheat  " 

The  Farm  Dairy  " 

The  Horse  Book  " 

Business  of  Dairying  " 

Examining  and  Grading  Grains  " 

Dairy  Farming  " 

The  Book  of  Corn  "' 

Indian  Corn  Culture  " 

Types  and  Breeds  of  Farm  Animals 

The  Horse  " 

Clovers " 

Forage  Crops  Other  than  Grasses  " 
Grasses  and  How  to  Grow  Them  "  . 
Soiling  Crops  and  the  Silo  "    .     .     . 
First  Lessons  in  Dairying  "... 

Forage  Crops  " 

Training  and  Breaking  of  Horses  " 
Farm  Dairying  " 


Pub- 
lisher 


15 
38 
IS 
31 
31 
IS 
29 
40 
IS 

31 
29 

14 

IS 
IS 
17 
IS 
IS 
14 
14 
91 


Price 


$    SO 

1  SO 

2  00  net 

1  00 

2  00 

I  25  net 
48  net 

I  00 

I  SO 

I  00 

I  60  net 

I  25  net 

I  00  net 

I  00 

I  SO 

I  SO 
50  net 

I  so  net 

I  7S 

I  25 


210 
211 
212 

213 
214 

215 
•216 

217 
218 
219 
219. 1 
219.2 

2193 
219.4 

2195 


Harper,  M.   W. 
Willoughby,  T.  F. 
Eccles,  C.  H.      . 
Sheldon,  J.  P.    . 
Montgomery,  E.  G 
Harper,  M.  W. 
Plumb,  C.  S. 
Wilson,  A.D.,fl  al 
Hunt,  T.  P.,  el  al. 
Washburn,  R.  M. 
Gay,  C.W.    .     . 
Curtis,  R.  S. 
Eccles  and  Warren 
Gay,  C.W.  .     . 


Montgomery,  E.  G. 


Manual  of  Farm  Animals'" 
'  The  Golden  Stream  " 

Dairy  Cattle  and  Milk  Production  "    . 

The  Farm  and  Dairy  " 

'  Corn  Crops  " 

■  Management  and  Breeding  of  Horses  " 

Beginnings  in  Animal  Husbandry  " 

Field  Crops  " 

Farm  Animals  " 

'  Productive  Dairying  " 

'  Productive  Horse  Husbandry  " 

'  Live  Stock  Judging  and  Selection  " 

'  Dairy  Farming  " 

'  Principles  and  Practice   of  Judging 

Live  Stock  " 

'  Productive  Farm  Crops  "      .     .     .     . 


14 
96 
14 
97 
14 
15 
r? 
17 
15 
19 
19 
105 

14 

14 
19 


I  60  net 

I  28  net 
Qo  net 

1  28  net 

2  00  net 
125  net 
I  so  net 
I  §0  net 
I  75 
r75 

8S  net 

1  20  net 
175 


A  STATE   AGRICULTURAL   PROJECT   STUDY   BIBLIOGRAPHY      163 


B.   Fruit  Growing 

(See  also  references  under  (3),  B) 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

220 
221 
222 
232 
233 
234 

Bailey,  L.H      .     .     . 
Bailey,  L.H.     .     .     . 
Bailey,  L.H.     .     .     . 
Thomas,  J.  J.    .     .     . 
Waugh,  F.  A.    .     .     . 
Wolverton,  L.  .     .     . 

"  The  Nursery  Book  " 

"  The  Principles  of  Fruit  Growing  " 

"  The  Pruning  Book  " 

"  The  American  Fruit  Culturist  " 
"  The  American  Apple  Orchard  " 
"  The      Canadian      Apple    Grower's 
Guide" 

14 
14 
14 
15 
IS 

43 

$1  50  net 
I  50  net 

1  50  net 

2  50  net 

1  00  net 

2  00  net 

235 
236 
237 
238 

239 
240 
241 

Waugh,  F.  A.     .     .     . 
Beach,  S.  A.,  el  al. 
Beach,S.A.,etal. 
Waugh.  F.  A.    .     .     . 
Sears,  F.C.        ... 
Favor,  E.H.      ... 
Kains,  M.G.     .     .     . 

"  Beginner  s  Guide  to  Fruil  Growing  " 
"  The  Apples  of  New  York,"  I    .     .     . 
•'  The  Apples  of  New  York,"  II        .     . 
"  The  American  Peach  Orchard  "     . 
"  Productive  Orcharding  "        .... 

"  Fruit  Grower's  Guide  " 

"  Principles  and  Practice  of  Pruning  " 

^5 
100 
100 

15 

19 
105 

15 

75 
\  net 

1  00 
175 

2  00 

C.    Market  Gardening 

(See  also  references  under  (3)  A) 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

250 

2SI 

Bailey,  L.  H.     .     .     . 
Beattie,  W.  R. 
Rawson,  Herbert  .     . 

Taft,  L.  R 

Taft,  L.  R.  .     .     .     . 

"  The  Forcing  Book  "       ... 
"  Celery  Culture  " 

14 
15 
16 

IS 
IS 

$1  25  net 

254 
257 
258 

"  Success  in  Market  Gardening  " 
"  Greenhouse  Construction  "     . 
"  Greenhouse  Management  "    . 

I  10 
I  SO 

259 
260 

Lloyd,  J.  W.      .     .      . 
Corbett.  L.C.     .      .     . 
Yeaw,  F.  L.       ... 
Watts,  R.  L.      .     .     . 

"  Productive  Vegetable  Growing  " 

"  Garden  Farming  " 

19 
29 

36 

15 

1  75  , 

2  00 

261 

"  Market  Gardening  " 

7i  net 

262 

"  Vegetable  Forcing  " 

164 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


(5)— FOR  LABORATORY   EXERCISES   AND    SCIENTIFIC   DATA   BEARING 
UPON    THE   PRODUCTIVE   PROJECTS   UNDERTAKEN 


Intended  to  be  supplementary  to  the  entries  above  given,  and  to  be  drawn  upon  as  occa- 
sion permits  or  demands 

A.    Agriculture  in  General 


Refer- 
ence 
Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

270 
271 
272 
273 

274 
273 
276 
278 
279 

280 
281 
285 
286 
287 
289 
290 
292 

Bailey,  L.  H.     . 
Bailey,  L.  II.     . 
Bailey,  L.  H.     . 
Bailey,  L.  H.     . 

Bailey,  L.  II.     . 
Bailey,  L.  H.     . 
Bailey,  L.  II.     . 
Brooks,  W.  P. 
Brooks,  W.  P.  . 

Brooks,  W.  P. 
Davenport,  E. 
Goodrich,  C.  L. 
Hunt,  T.  F.       . 
Hunt,  T.  F.       . 
Massey,  W.  F. 
Voorhees,  E.  B. 
Wilcox,  E.  V.    . 

"  Cyclopedia    of    American    Agricul- 
ture :  Farms,"  Vol.  I      .     .     .     . 

"  Cyclopedia    of    American    Agricul- 
ture:  Crops,"  Vol.11     .... 

"  Cyclopedia    of    American    Agricul- 
ture:  Animals,"  Vol.  Ill    .     .     . 

"  Cyclopedia    of    American    Agricul- 
ture:     Farm  and    Community," 
Vol.  IV 

"  Farm  and  Garden  Rule  Book  "  .     . 

"  Principles  of  Agriculture  "... 

"  Principles  of  Vegetable  Gardening" 

"  Agriculture :  Soils,"  Vol.  I      .     .     . 

"  x\griculture  :     Manures,    Fertilizers 
and  Farm  Crops,"  Vol.  II       .     . 

"  .\griculture  :   Animal   Husbandry" 

"Domesticated  Animals  and  Plants  " 

"  The  First  Book  of  Farming  "       .     . 

"  The  Cereals  in  America  "  .     .     .     . 

"  Forage  and  Fibre  Crops  in  America  " 

"  Practical  Farming  " 

"  First  Principles  of  Agriculture  " 

"  Farmers'    Cyclopedia    of    Agricul- 
ture " 

14 
14 
14 

14 
14 

14 
14 
44 

44 
44 
2g 
16 
15 
15 
Qi 
46 

15 

O5  00  net 
5  00  net 
5  00  net 

5  00  net 
2  00 
I  25  net 
I  so  net 
I  25 

I  25 
I  25 
I  00  net 
I  00  net 
I  75 
I  75 

I  so  net 
60  net 

3  50 

294 
29s 
296 
297 
298 
299 

Hopkins,  C.  G.,  cl  t 
Bowsfield,  C.  C 
Livingstone,  G.  . 
Piper,  C.  V.       . 
Hitchcock,  A.  S. 
Snyder,  Alva 

it.  . 

"  For  Better  Crops  " 

"  Makins,  the  Farm  Pay  "       .... 
'' Field  Crop  Production"       .... 
"  Forage  Plants  and  Their  Culture  "     . 
"  Tk"  Text-Book  of  Grasses  " 
"  Fights  of  the  Farmer"          .... 

q6 
98 
14 
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14 
19 

/  00  net 
I  12  net 
•I  40  net 
1  20  net 

I  25 

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A   STATE  AGRICULTURAL  PROJECT  STUDY   BIBLIOGRAPHY      165 


B.   Animal  Diseases 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

313 
318 

323 

Mayo,  N.  S.      ... 
Reynolds,  M.  H.   .     . 

Salmon,  D.  E.  .     .     . 

"  Diseases  of  .\nimals  " 

"  Veterinary  .Studies  for  Agricultural 

Students  " 

"  Diseases  of  Poultry  " 

14 

47 

$1  50  net 

I  75  net 
60  net 

326 

Craig,  R.  A.       .     .     . 

"  Common  Diseases  of  Farm  Animals  " 

IQ 

I  75 

C.   Animal  Foods  and  Feeding 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

341 
344 
347 

Henry,  W.  A.    .     .     . 
Jordan,  W.  II.  .     .     . 
Shaw,  Thos.      .     .     . 

"  Feeds  and  Feeding  " 

"  The  Feeding  of  Animals  "       ... 
"  Feeding  Farm  Animals  "    .     .     .     . 

49 
14 

IS 

$2  00  net 

1  50  net 

2  00 

350 
351 
352 

WolLF.W.,      .     .     . 
Burkelt.c'.W.  .     .     . 
Larson,  C.  W-,  el  al.  . 

''Productive    Feeding    of     Fcrm    Ani- 
mals "      .     .     .      '. 

"  First    Principles    of    Feeding   Farm 
Animals  " 

"  Dairy   Cattle   Feeding   and  Manage- 
mer.t  " 

15 
36 

I  75 

1  50 

2  50  net 

D.   Animal  Life,  Propagation  and  Tests 


360 
361 
363 
364 


Kellogg,  V.  L. 
Jordan,  D.  S.,  el  al. 
Punnett,  R.  C. 
Shaw,  Thos.      .■     . 


Animals  "... 
Animal  Studies  " 
Mendelism  "    .     . 
.•Vnimal  Breeding  " 


SI 
51 
14 
IS 


ii   So  net 
I  25  net 
I  25 
I  50 


366 

367 
368 


Peabody  and  Hunt . 

Marshall,  F.  R.      , 
Walter,  H.E.    .     . 


"Elementary    Biology  —  Animal   and 

Human  " 

"  Breeding  Farm  Animals  "    .     .     .     . 
"  Genetics  " 


14 
31 
14 


Qo  net 
I  50 
I  20  net 


i66 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


E.   Bacteriology,  Agricultural 

(See  also  references  below  under  J) 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

370 
371 
372 
376 

Conn,  H.  W.     .     .     . 
Conn,  H.  W.     .     .     . 
Conn,  H.  W.     .     .     . 
Lipman,  J.  G.  .     .     . 

'■  Agricultural  Bacteriology  "    .     . 
"  Bacteria  in  Milk  and  Its  Products  " 
"  Practical  Dairy  Bacteriology  "    .     . 
"  Bacteria    in    Relation    to    Country 
Life" 

S3 
53 

IS 

14 

$2  00  net 
I  50  net 
I  25 

I  50  net 

378 
379 

Russell,  H.  L.,  et  al.     . 
Russell,  H.  L.,  et  al.     . 

"  Experimental  Dairy  Bacteriology  "   . 
"  Agricultural  Bacteriology"  .... 

29 
109 

I  23 

F.   Birds  and  Agriculture 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

« 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

•387 

Forbush,  E.  H.    .     . 

"Useful  Birds  and  Agiiculture  "    .     .     . 

114 

389 
394 

Washburn,  F.  L.       . 

''  Itijurious  Insects  and  Useful  Birds  "     . 

■ 

19 

G. 

Botany  and  Plant  Physiology 

Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

395 
396 
397 
398 

399 

400 

■ 
Andrews,  E.  F.      .     . 

Bergen,  J.  Y.,  et  al.    . 

Coulter,  J.  M.        .     . 

Duggar,  B.  M.       .     . 

Percival,  J 

Stevens,  W.  C.       .     . 

"  Practical  Course  in  Botany 
"  Practical  Botany  "    .     . 
"  Plant  Structures  "     .     . 
"  Plant  Physiology  "... 
"  Agricultural  Botany  "   . 
"  Introduction  to  Botany  " 

T1 

S4 
29 
SI 
14 
34 
SS 

$1  00  net 
1  04  net 
I  20  net 

1  60  net 

2  50  net 
I  50  net 

401 

.Atkinson,  G.  F.       .     . 
Bailey,  L.H.     .     .     . 
Robbins,  W.W.      .     . 

"  Botany  "      .     .                

34 
14 
53 

I  32 

402 
403 

"  Botany  for  Secondary  Schools  " 

"  Botany  of  Crop  Plants"       .     .     .     . 

1  00  net 

2  00  net 

A   STATE   AGRICULTURAL   PROJECT   STUDY  BIBLIOGRAPHY      167 


H.   Chemistry  and  Agriculture 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

405 
406 

407 

408 

409 
410 

Hart,  E.  B.,  et  al.  .     . 
Storer,  F.  H.     .     .     . 

Storer,  F.  H.      .     .     . 

Storer,  F.  H.     .     .     . 

Warington,  R.        .     . 
Williams,  R.  P.      .      . 

'•  General  Agricultural  Chemistrj'  "    . 
■'  Agriculture  in  Some  of  Its  Relations 

with  Chemistry,"  Vol.  I      .     .     . 
"  Agricidture  in  Some  of  Its  Relations 

with  Chemistry,"  Vol.  II    .     .     . 
"  Agriculture  in  Some  of  Its  Relations 

with  Chemistry,"  Vol.  Ill  .     .     . 
"  The  Chemistry  of  the  Farm  "      .     . 
"  Elements  of  Chemistry  "    .     .     .     . 

56 
57 

57 

57 
58 
29 

■ 

Si  so 

5  00 

I  13 

88  net 

411 

Kalil::ibsri,  L.,  el  al.   . 

Keith,  T.E.       ... 
Brownlee,  R.  B.,  el  al. 

"  Chemistrv  and  lis  Relations  Ij  Daih 
Life  " 

'4 

I  00  net 

412 
413 

■'  The  Chemistry  of  Farm  Practice  "    . 
"  Chemistry  of  Common  Things  "    .     . 

36 
107 

125  net 
I  50 

I.    Construction  and  Repairs  :  Plans,  Materials,  Tests,  etc. 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

418 
419 
422 
423 

424 
425 
426 
427 
429 

430 
432 

Cobleigh,  R.      .     .     . 
Breeders'  Gazette 
Davidson  and  Chase . 
Fiske,  G.  B.       ... 

Fiske,  G.  B.     .       .     . 
Hasluck,  P.  N.       .     . 
Hasluck,  P.  N.       .     . 
Hasluck,  P.  N.       .     . 
Holmstrom.  J,  G. 

Orange  Judd  Co.  .     . 
Stabler,  A.  L.    .     .     . 

"  Handy  Farm  Devices  "       .... 

"  Farm  Buildings  " 

"  Farm  Buildings  " 

"  Poultry  .Appliances  and  Handi- 
crafts "    

"  Poultry  Architecture  " 

"  Harness  Making  " 

"  Knotting  and  Splicing  "     .     .     .     . 

"  Saddlery  "....' 

"  Standard  Blacksmithing,  Horse- 
shoeing and  Wagon  Making  " 

••  Barn  Plans  and  Out  Buildings  " 

"  Hog  Houses,  Description  "... 

15 
33 
92 

02 
92 
92 
92 
92 

17 

IS 

S2 

$1  so  net 
2  00 
2  00 

SO 
SO 

50 
I  00 

439 

Brace,  G.  M.,  et  al.      . 

"  Farm  Shop  Work  " 

54 

/  00 

i68 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


J.   Dairy  Products,  Manufactures,  Chemistry,  and  Bacteriology 

(See  also  references  above  under  E) 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

448 
451 

454 

Farrington  and  Woll  . 
Van  Slyke,  L.  L.    .     . 

Wing,  H.  H.     .     .     . 

"  Testing  Milk  and  Its  Products  " 
"  Modern  Methods  of  Testing  Milk 
and  Milk  Products  "      .... 
"  Milk  and  Its  Products "     .     .     .     . 

60 

IS 
14 

$1  25 

75 
I  50  net 

455 
456 
457 

458 

Snyder.  H 

Bcirlhel,  C 

McKay  and  Larson 

Russell,  H.  L.,  et  al.    . 

"  Dairy  Chemistry  " 

"  Milk  and  Dairy  Products  "  .     .     .     . 
"  Principles    and    Practice    of    Butter 

Making  " 

"  Dairy  Bacteriology  " 

14 

i4 

36 

lOQ 

80  net 
I  80  net 

I  JO  net 
I  00 

K.   Farm  Management,  and  Rural  Economics 
Accounts,  Statistics,  etc. 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

465 
467 
489 
492 
493 
499 
500 

524 

526 
527 

528 

Card,  F.  W.      ... 
Carver,  T.  N.    .     .     . 
Hunt,  T.  F.       ... 
Roberts,  I.  P.   .     .     . 
Roberts,  LP..     .     . 
Taylor,  H.  C.    .     .     . 
Terry,  T.  B.      ... 

Warren,  G.  ¥.,etal.  . 

Wing,  J.  E 

Woll,  F.  W.       .     .     . 

Green,  J.  B.      ... 

"  Farm  Management  " 

"  Principles  of  Rural  Economics  ".     . 

"  How  to  Choose  a  Farm  "  .     .     .     . 

"  The  Farmer's  Business  Handbook  " 

"  The  Farmstead  " 

"  Agricultural  Economics  "  .     .     .     . 

"  Our  Farming,  or.  How  We  Have 
Made  a  Run-down  Farm  Bring 
Both  Profit  and  Pleasure  "     .     . 

"  Laboratory  Exercises  in  Farm  Man- 
agement " 

"  Alfalfa  Farming  in  America  "     .     . 

"  Handbook  for  Farmers  and  Dairy- 
men "      

"  Law  for  the  American  Farmer  " 

16 
29 
14 
14 
14 
14 

63 
14 

36 
14 

$2  00  net 
I  04  net 
158 
I  25 

1  SO 
•  I  25 

75 

80 

2  00 

I  50 
I  50 

529 

Boss,  A 

"  Farm  Management  " 

102 

90 

A   STATE  AGRICULTURAL   PROJECT   STUDY  BIBLIOGRAPHY      1 69 


L.   Fruits 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

■  Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

540 
542 

Bailey,  L.  H.     .     .     . 
Waugh,  F.  A.    .     .     . 

"  The     Evolution     of     our     Native 

Fruits"        

"  Systematic  Pomology  "      .... 

14  . 
IS 

$2  00 
I  00 

M.   Insects 
(See  also  references  above  under  F) 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

550 
551 
558 

559 
560 
562 

Chittenden,  F.  H.       . 
Comstock,  J.  H.,  el  al. 
Sanderson,  E.  D. 

Saunders,  Wm.      .     . 
Smith,  John      .     .     . 
Weed,  C.  M.     .     .     . 

"  Insects  Injurious  to  V'egetables  "     . 
"  Manual  for  the  Study  of  Insects  "   . 
"  Insect  Pests  of  Farm,  Garden  and 

Orchard" 

"  Insects  Injurious  to  Fruits  "... 
"  Our  Insect  Friends  and  Enemies  " 
"  Life  Histories  of  American  Insects  " 

IS 
65 

36 
19 
19 
14 

$1  50 
3  75  net 

3  00 
2  00  net 
I  so  net 
I  So 

563 
564 

Sanderson,  E.  D.,  ct  al. 
O'Kane,  W.  C. 

"School  Entomology  " 

"  Injuri^'us  Insects  " 

36 
14 

I  so  net 
I  60  net 

N.   Lime  and  Liming 

Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

574 

• 

575 
576 

I/O 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


O.   Physics  of  Agriculture 
Drainage,  Irrigation,  Machines,  Motors,  etc. 


Refer- 
ence 

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ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

580 
581 
585 
586 
588 

Davidson,  J.  B.,  ct  al. 
Elliott,  C.  G.    .     .     . 
King,  F.  H.       ... 
King,  F.  H.       ... 
Powell,  F.E.     .     .     . 

"  Farm  Machinery  and  Farm  Motors" 
"  Practical  Farm  Drainage  "... 
"  Irrigation  and  Drainage  "... 
"  Physics  of  Agriculture  "     .     .     .      . 
"  Wind  Mills  and  Wind  Motors  " 

IS 
36 

14 
66 
92 

$2  00  net 

I  SO 

I  SO 

I  75 

SO 

590 
591 
592 

Davidson,  J.  B.       . 
Anderson,  F.I.      .     . 
Wirt,  F.  A 

"  Agricultural  Engineering"  .     .     .     . 
"  Eleilricity  on  the  Farm  "       .... 
"  Fartn  Machinery  " 

17 
14 
36 

1  50 
I  20  net 

I  25  net 

P.   Plant  Diseases 

(See  also  Spraying) 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

602 
605 

Massee,  Geo.     .     .     . 
Stevens,  F.  L.,  et  al.  . 

"  A  Text-book  of  Fungi  "      .     .     .     . 
"  Diseases  of  Economic  Plants  "    .     . 

14 
14 

$2  00 

607 

Duggar,  B.  M.        .     . 

"' Fungous  Diseases  of  Plants  "    .     .     . 

^9 

2  00 

Q.    Plant  Foods  and  Feeding 

(See  also  Soils,  etc.) 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

615 
619 
622 
623 
633 

Aikman,  CM.      .     . 
Cameron,  F.  K.     .     . 
Johnson,  S.  W.,     .     . 
Myers,  W.  S.    .     .     . 
Voorhees,  E.  B.      .     . 

"  Manures  and  Manuring  "  .     .     .     . 

"  The  Soil  Solution  " 

"  How  Crops  Feed  " 

"  Food  for  Plants  " 

"  Fertilizers  " 

67 
68 

IS 

69 

14 

$2  50 
I  25  net 
I  SO 

I    2S 

634 
635 
636 

Ilalligan,  J.  E.       .     . 
Van  Slyke,  L.  L.     .     . 
Wheeler,  H.J.  .     .     . 

"  Soil  Fertility  and  Fertilizers  "  .     .     . 

"  Fertilizers  and  Crops  " 

"  Manures  and  Fertilizers  "    .     .     .     . 

68 
r.5 
14 

3  50  net 
2  50 
1  28  net 

A  STATE   AGRICULTURAL   PROJECT   STUDY   BIBLIOGRAPHY      171 


R.   Plant  Life,  Propagation  and  Tests 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

14 
29 
SI 
54 
IS 
14 
IS 
14 
IS 

72 

Price 

645 
647 
649 
651 
654 
658 
661 
662 
667 
668 

Bailev,  L.  H.     .     .     . 

Beal,  W.  J 

Coulter,  J.  M.  .     .     . 
Gray,  Asa    .... 
Johnson,  S.  W.       .     . 
MacDougall,  D.  T.    . 
Masters,  M.  T.      .     . 
Osterhout,  W.  J.  V.    . 
Spillman,  W.  J.      .     . 
Sutton  &  Sons 

* 

■'  Plant  Breeding  " 

"  Seed  Dispersal  " 

"  Plant  Studies  " 

"  How  Plants  Grow  " 

"  How  Crops  Grow  "        

"  The  Nature  and  Work  of  Plants  "   . 
"  Plant  Life  on  the  Farm  "  .     .     .     . 
"  Experiments  with  Plants  "... 
"  Farm  Grasses  of  the  United  States  " 
"  Culture  of  Vegetables  and  Flowers 
from  Seeds  and  Roots  "... 

$1  25 

35 
I  25 

64  net 
I  SO 

80 
I  00 

I  25 
I  00 

I  25  net 

671 
672 

Peabody  and  Hiinl 
Sargent,  F.  L.    . 

"  Elementary  Biology.     Plants  " 

"  Plants  and  Their  Uses  "      .... 

14 

34 

64  net 
I  32 

S.   Soils,  Geology,  Physical  Geography,  Soil  Fertility 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

681 

Burkett,  C.  W.      .     . 
Davis,  W.  M.  .     .     . 

Fletcher 

Gilbert,  G.  K.  .     .     . 

King,  F.  H.       ... 
McCall,  A.  G.  .     .     . 
Merrill,  G.  P.  .     .     . 
Roberts,  LP..     .     . 

Snyder,  H 

Tarr,  R.  S 

Vivian,  A 

"  Soils  " 

IS 
29 
16 

SI 
14 
IS 
14 
14 
14 
14 
15 

$1  25 

682 
683 

"  Elementary  Physical  Geography  " 
"  Soils  "                               

1  00  net 

2  00  net 

685 

687 
688 
689 
691 
692 
696 
697 

"  An   Introduction    to   Physical    Ge- 
ography " 

"  The  Soil  " 

■'  The  Physical  Properties  of  Soils  " 
"  Rocks,  Rock-weathering  and  Soils  " 
"  The  Fertility  of  the  Land  "... 

"  Soils  and  Fertilizers  " 

"  Elementary  Geology  " 

"  First  Principles  of  Soil  Fertility  "    . 

I  25  net 
I  SO 

50  net 
400 
I  SO 
I  25 
I  40 
I  00  net 

699 

Lyon,  T.  L.,  et  al. 
Hunt,  T.  F.,  et  al. 
Whitson,  A.  R.,  et  al. 
Master,  J.  G.,  et  al.     . 

"  Soils  "     .                    

'4 

17 
19 

/  =i2  net 

700 
701 
702 

"  Soils  and  Crops  " 

"  Soils  and  Soil  Fertility  "      .     .     .     . 
•'  Soil  Physics  and  Management  "    .     . 

I  50 
125  net 

172 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


T.    Spraying  and  Fumigation 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

718 
719 
732 

Johnson,  Willis  G. 
Lodeman,  E.  G.     .     . 
Weed,  C.  M.    .     .     . 

"  Fumigation  Methods  "       .... 
"  The  Spraying  of  Plants  "   .     .     .     . 
"  Insects  and  Insecticides  "  .     .     .     . 

15 
14 
IS 

Si  00 

I    25 

I  SO 

U.   Textbooks  and  Manuals  for  Schools 
Agricultural 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 


745 

746 
747 

749 

752 
753 
754 
756 
757 
758 

759 
760 
761 
762 
764 
767 

768 
770 
772 
773 
774 
775 

776 
777 


.A.uthor 


Barto,  D.  A.     .     . 

Bricker,  G.  A.,  el  al. 
Burkett,  Stevens,  and 

Hill 

Coulter,  J.  M.,  el  al. 

Davis,  C.  W.    .     . 
Davis,  K.  C.     . 
Duggar,  J.  F.    .     . 
Field,  Jessie 
Fisher  and  Cotton 
Fream,  W.   . 
Goff,  E.  S.,  el  al.  . 
Halligah,  J.  E. 
Hatch  and  Haselwood 
Hays,  W.  M.    .     . 
Hodge,  C.  F.     . 
Jackson   and   Daugh 

erty  .... 
James,  C.  J.  .  . 
McLennan,  J.  . 
Nolan,  A.  W.  .  . 
Shaw,  E.  E.  .  . 
Shoesmilh,  V.  M. 
Soule  and  Turpin 

Stevens,  F.  L.,  et  al. 
Upham,  A.  A.  .     . 


Title 


Manual  of   Agriculture,  Soils  and 

Crops  " .     .     . 

Agricultural  Words  " 

Agriculture  for  Beginners  "    .     .     . 

Practical    Nature    Study   and    Ele- 
mentary Agriculture  "   .      .     .     . 
liural  School  Agriculture  "     .     .     . 

Productive  Farming  " 

.\griculture  for  Southern  Schools  " 

Farm  Arithmetic  " 

.\griculture  for  Common  School;,  " 
Elementary  .\griculture  "        .     .     . 
First  Principles  of  Agriculture  " 
Fundamentals  of  Agriculture  "    . 
Elementary  Agriculture  "       .     .     . 

Farm  Development  " 

Nature  Study  and  Life  "  .  .  .  . 
Agriculture  through  the  Laboratory 
and  School  Garden "  .  .  .  . 
'  Practical  .Agriculture  "  .  .  .  . 
Manual  of  Practical  Farming  "  .  . 
One  HundredLessonsin  Agriculture" 

■  Gardening  " 

■  The  Study  of  Corn  " 

'  Agriculture  :  Its  Fundamental  Prin- 
ciples " 

'  A  Practical  .Arithmetic  ''.... 
'  An  Introduction  to  .Agriculture  "     . 


Pub- 

lisher 

Price 

55 

S    50  net 

74 

OS 

29 

60  net 

SI 

I  35 

IS 

I  00 

19 

I  00 

14 

75 

76 

IS 

S7 

I  00 

21 

I  25  net 

54 

I  64  net 

55 

25  net 

77 

so 

15 

I  so  net 

29 

I  20  net 

15 

I  50  net 

SI 

Sonet 

14 

I  50 

77 

6.? 

16 

1 

15 

SO  net 

78 

75 

S7 

65 

51 

75  net 

'  A  volume  in  the  "  Library  of  Work  and  Play,"  for  sale  only  as  a  complete  set  of  ten 
volumes  at  $  17.50. 


A   STATE  AGRICULTURAL   PROJECT  STUDY  BIBLIOGRAPHY       173 

U.   Textbooks  and  Manuals  for  Schools  —  Continued 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 


779 
780 
781 
782 
784 


Author 


Weed,  C.  M.     .     . 
Weed,  C.  M.,  et  al. 
Wilkinson,  J.  W.  . 
Wilson,  A.  D.,  et  al. 
Comstock,  A.  B.    . 


Title 


Farm  Friends  and  Farm  Foes  ' 
The  School  Garden  Book  "     . 
Practical  Agriculture  "       .     . 
Agriculture  for  Young  Folks  " 
Handbook  of  Nature  Study  " 


Pub- 
lisher 


55 
57 
54 
17 
65 


Price 


!>    go  net 

I    25 

Sonet 
I  00 
3  65  net 


784.1 
785 
7851 
785.2 

7853 
786 

786.1 

787 
788 

789 

789.1 

789.2 


Davis,  K.  C.      .     . 
Burkelt,  C.  W .,  ct  al. 
Lewis,  C.J.       .     . 
S hulls,  G.  C,  el  al. 
Slrallon,  W.  T.,  cl  al. 
Budd,  J.  L.,  el  al.  . 

Budd,  J.  L.,  el  al.   . 

Call,  L.  E.,  el  al.    . 
Slebbins,  C.  A. 

Caljee,  J.  E.       .     . 
Ross  H.E.    .     .     . 

Nida,  W.  L.       .     . 


Clule,  W.  N. 


7893 

789.4  French,  A. 

789. 5  Weed,  C.  M.,  el  al. 

789.6  .Igee,  Alva   .     .     . 

789.7  Davis,  K.C.      .     . 

789.8  Dadisman.  S.  H.    . 

789.9  Gehrs,  J.  H.,  et  al. 


'  Productive  Plant  Husbandry  "... 

Farm  Arithmetic  ^' 

Farm  Business  Arithmetic  "... 

''  Agricultural  Arithmetic  "     .     .     .     . 

'  Agricultural  Arithmetic"       .     :     .     . 

'  American  Horticultural  Manual," 
Parti 

'  American  Horticultural  Manual," 
Part  II 

'  A  Laboratory  Manual  oj  Agriculture  " 

'  Th:  Principles  of  Agriculture  Through 
the  School  and  Home  Garden"  .     . 

'  Rural  Arithmetic  " 

'  A  Dairy  Laboratory  Guide  "... 

^Elementary  Agriculture."  Teacher's 
Edition  with  "  Appendix:  One 
Thousand  Questions  Answered  " 

'  Agronomy:  A  Course  in  Practical 
Gardening  for  High  Schools  "     .     . 

'  Beginner's  Garden  Book  "    .     .     .     . 

^  Crop  Production  " , 

'  Crops  and  Methods  for  Soil  Im- 
provement"     

'  School  and  Home  Gardening  "... 

'  Exercises  in  Agriculture  "  .  .  .  . 
One  Hundred  Exercisesin Agriculture" 


19 
15 
55 
17 
14 

36 

36 
14 

14 
29 

'5 


I  00 
48 

80  net 
40  net 

I  50  net 

I  50  net 
72  net 

80  net 
30 
60  net 


75 


^9 

I  00 

'4 

80  net 

55 

88 

14 

I  20  net 

19 

1  28 

102 

60 

14 

88  net 

V.    Trees  and  Shrubs 
Not  for  Fruit 


791 

793 

Blakeslee,  A.  F.,  et  al. 
Gififord,  John    .     .     . 

"  Trees  in  Winter  " 

"  Practical  Forestry  " 

14 
51 

$1  20 

807 

Levison.  J.J. 

"  Studies  of  Trees  " 

36 

/  60  net 

174 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


W.   Weeds  and  Their  Eradication 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

821 

Pammel,  L.  H.       .     . 

"  Weeds  of  the  Farm  and  Garden  " 

IS 

$1  50  net 

823 

Georgia,  Ada      ... 

"  Manual  of  Weeds  " 

14 

/  60  net 

X.   Zoology,  General  and  Economic 
(See  also  above  Reference  Numbers  360,  361) 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

850 
831 

Linville,  H.  R.,  et  al. 
Osborne,  H.      ... 

"  A  Text-book  in  General  Zoology  " 
"  Economic  Zoology  " 

29 
14 

$1  20  net 
2  00 

(6)— FOR   BETTERMENT   OF   COUNTRY   LIFE   AND   EDUCATION 


Refer- 
ence 
Num- 
ber 

Author 

Title 

Pub- 
lisher 

Price 

836 
837 

838 

839 

840 
841 
842 

843 

844 
84s 

846 
847 

Anderson,  W.  L. 
Bailey,  L.  H.     . 

"  The  Country  Town  " 

"  The  Country-life  Movement  in  the 

United  States  " 

"  The  State  and  the  Farmer  "... 
"  The  Training  of  Farmers  "... 
"  Boy  Scouts  of  America  "    .     .     .     . 

"  Rural  Hygiene  " 

"  The  Teaching  of  Agriculture  in  the 

High  School" 

"  One  Woman's     Work     for     Farm 

Women" 

"  Chapters  in  Rural  Progress  "  .  . 
"The  Country  Church  and  the  Rural 

Problem" 

"  Education  for  Efficit-ncy  "... 
"  Agricultural  Ediualion  in  the  Public 

.Schools  " 

80 

14 
14 
81 
16 
10 

14 

82 
83 

83 
55 

83 

$1  00 

Bailey,  L.  H.     . 

I  25  net 
I  25  net 
I  00  net 

30, 
I  25 

I  00 

50  net 
I  00  net 

I  08 
I  00  net 

I  00  net 

Bailey,  L.  H.     . 
Seton,  E.  T.,  et  al. 
Brewer,  I.  W.    . 
Bricker,  G.  h.  . 

Bucll,  Jennie     . 

Butterfield,  K.  L. 
Butterfield,  K.  L. 

Davenport,  E.  M. 
Davis,  Bcnj.  M. 

_ 

A  STATE   AGRICULTURAL   PROJECT   STUDY   BIBLIOGRAPHY      1 75 
(6)— FOR   BETTERMENT   OF   COUNTRY   LIFE   AND   EDUCATION  —  Continued 


Refer- 
ence 

Num- 
ber 


848 
850 
851 

852 
853 
854 
861 
862 
863 

866 
867 
869 

870 

871' 


873 
876 


878 
879 
880 
881 
882 

883 

884 

884.1 

885 

886 

887 

888 


889 


Author 


Dodfi,  Helen  . 
Fullerton,  V,.  L. 
Gerhard,  W.  P. 

Greene,  M.  L. 
Hall,  Bolton 
Harris,  H.  T. 
Kern,  O.  J.  . 
King,  F.  H. 
King,  F.  H. 


McKeever,  W.  A. 
Miller,  M.  R.    . 
Plunkett,  Sir  H. 

Robertson,  J.  \V. 

Robison,  C.  H. 

Sncdden,  David 
Williams,  Dora 


Title 


i  -I 


Htuil,  T.F. 
Saint  Maiir,  K. 
Savage,  W-  G.  .  . 
Gilltle,  J.  M.  .  . 
Hummel,  W.  G.,  et  al 

Bolte,  J.  W.  .  . 
Crcmwell.  A .  D. 
Nclan,  A.W.  .  . 
Hall-Quest,  A.  L.  . 
Lapp.  J.  A.,  el  al. 
Foghl,  n.  IP.      .      . 

Eaton,  T.H.      .     . 


Peabodv,  F .  G. 


The  Young  Farmer  " 

A  Self -Sup  porting  Home  "        ... 
Milk  and  the  Public  Health  "    .     .     . 
Constructive  Rural  Sociology  " 
Materials     and     Methods     in     High 

School  Agriculture  "   ... 
The  Back  Yard  Farmer  "     .     . 

Agriculture  and  Life  " 

Tlte  Teaching  of  Agriculture  " 

Supervised  Study  " 

Learning  to  Earn  '■' 

The  Rural  Teacher  and 

His  Work  " 

'  A  Study  of  Organization  and  Methods 
of  the  Course  of  Study  in  Agriail- 
lure  in  Secondary  Schools" 
'Education  for  Life  " 


Pub- 
lisher 


The  Healthful  Farmhouse  "...  82 
The  Lure  of  the  Land  "  .  .  .  .  84 
Sanitation,  Water  Supply  and  Sew- 
age Disposal  of  Country  Houses  "  85 
Among  School  Gardens  "  .  .  .  .86 
Three  Acres  and  Liberty  "...  14 

Health  on  the  Farm  " 87 

Among  Country  Schools  "...  29 

Farmers  of  Forty  Centuries  "      .     .  06 
Ventilation    for    Dwellings,    Rural 

Schools  and  Stables "  .     .     .     .  66 

Farm  Boys  and  Girls  "      ....  14 

Outdoor  Work  " 16 

The    Rural    Life    Problem   of    the 

United  States  " 14 

Macdonald    Movement    for    Rural 

Education  and  Other  Addresses  "'  88 
Agricultural  Instruction  in  the  Pub- 
lic High  Schools  of   the    United 

States  " 89 

The  Problem  of  Vocational  Educa- 
tion " go 

Gardens  and  Their  Meaning  "    .     .  29 


15 
14 
J4 
87 

'4 
98 

19 

90 

14 

108 

'4 


113 
16 


Price 


$60      net 


2  00  net 

I   25 

I  75 
75 

1  00  net 

2  so 

75 
I  50 


I  25 


35  net 
Sonet 


I  50 

1  40  net 

2  60  net 
175 

I  00  net 
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I  48 

I  00  net 


'  \  volume  in  the  "  Library  of  Work  and  Play  "  ;    for  sale  only  as  a  complete  set  of  ten 
volumes  at  $  17.50. 


I 


I 


176  VOCATION.\L  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

5.   Publishers  and  Their  Addresses  ^ 

14.  The  Macmillan  Company,  64  Filth  Avenue,  New  York  City. 

15.  The  Orange  Judd  Company,  315-321  Fourth  Avenue,  New  York  City. 

16.  Doubleday,  Page  &  Company,  Garden  City,  New  York. 

17.  Webb  Publishing  Company,  St.  Paul.  Minn. 

18.  William  Henry  Maule,  1707  Filbert  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

19.  J.  B.  Lippincott  Company,  Washington  Square,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

20.  John  Lane  Company,  New  York  City. 

21.  John  Murray,  London,  Eng. 

23.  The  A.  I.  Root  Company,  Medina,  O. 

24.  .\merican  Poultry  Association,  Morgan  Park,  111. 

25.  David  ISIcKay,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

26.  Michael  K.  Boyer,  Hammonton,  N.  J. 

27.  The  Torch  Press,  Cedar  Rapids,  la. 

28.  Edward  Arnold  Company,  London,  Eng. 

29.  Ginn  &  Company,  15  Ashburton  Place,  Boston,  Mass. 

30.  Cassell   &   Company,    Limited,   London,    Eng.,  354-360  Fourth  Avenue, 

New  York  City. 

31.  The  Breeders'  Gazette,  Chicago,  111. 

32.  J.  E.  Wing,  iMechanicsburg,  O. 

33.  Sanders  PubUshing  Company,  542  South  Dearborn  Street,  Chicago,  111. 

34.  Henry  Holt  &  Company,  6  Park  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 

35.  The  BuUard  Company.  46  Cornhill,  Boston,  Mass. 

36.  John  Wiley  &  Sons,  New  York  City. 

37.  Frederick  A.  Stokes  Company,  443  Fourth  Avenue,  New  York  City. 

38.  J.  A.  Craig,  Omaha,  Neb. 

40.  John  ]Michels,  West  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

43.  William  Briggs,  Toronto,  Can. 

44.  The  Home  Correspondence  School,  Springfield,  ]\Iass. 

45.  The  Outing  Publishing  Company,  New  York  City. 

46.  Silver,  Burdett  &  Co.,  221  Columbus  Avenue,  Boston,  Mass. 

47.  The  Feather  Publishing  Company,  Washington,  D.  C. 
49.  W.  A.  Henry,  Madison,  Wis. 

51.  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  35  West  32d  Street,  New  York  City. 

53.  P.  Blakiston's  Son  &  Co.,  1012  Walnut  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

54.  American  Book  Company,  63  Summer  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 

55.  D.  C.  Heath  &  Company,  50  Beacon  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 

56.  State  Journal  Printing  Company,  ^Madison,  Wis. 

57.  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  153  .Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City. 

58.  Vinton  &  Co.,  London,  Eng. 

60.  Mendota  Publishing  Company,  Madison,  Wis. 

63.  The  Farmer  Company,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

65.  Comstock  Publishing  Company,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

66.  Mrs.  F.  H.  Xing,  Madison,  Wis. 

1  Numbers  to  13  represented  sources  of  bulletin  and  circular  reference  materials  listed 
in  this  project  study  bibliography  in  its  original  form,  but  omitted  from  this  chapter 
owing  to  doubt  as  to  their  present  availability.  Other  missing  numbers,  —  22,  sg, 
etc.,  —  referred  to  similar  sources. 


A   STATE   AGRICULTURAL   PROJECT   STUDY   BIBLIOGRAPHY      177 

67.  Vvm.  Blackwood  &  Sons,  London,  Eng. 

68.  The  Chemical  Publishing  Company,  Easton,  Pa. 

69.  Wm.  S.  Myers,  New  York  City. 

72.   Simpkin,  Marshall  &  Co.,  London,  Eng. 

74.  The  Ohio  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Agricultural  Education, 

Columbus,  O. 

75.  Middlebury  College,  Middlebury,  Vt. 

76.  Henry  Field  Seed  Company,  Shenandoah,  la. 

77.  Row,  Peterson  &  Co.,  Chicago,  111. 

78.  B.  F.  Johnson  Publishing  Company,  Richmond,  Va. 

80.  The  Baker  &  Taylor  Company,  33  East  17th  Street,  New  York  City. 

81.  The  Century  Company,  Union  Square,  New  York  City. 

82.  Whitcomb  &  Barrows,  Huntington  Chambers,  Boston,  Mass. 

83.  University  of  Chicago  Press,  Chicago.  111. 

84.  Long  Island  Railroad  Company,  Medford,  Long  Island. 

85.  D.  Van  Nostrand  Company,  25  Park  Place,  New  York  City. 

86.  Charities  Publication  Committee,  105  East  2 2d  Street,  New  York  City. 

87.  Sturgis  &  Walton  Company,  New  York  Citj-. 

88.  James  W.  Robertson,  Chairman,  Royal  Commission  on  Industrial  Train- 

ing and  Technical  Education,  Bo.x  540,  Ottawa,  Can. 

89.  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  New  York  City. 

90.  Houghton  ]\IifHin  Company,  4  Park  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 

91.  A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co.,  Chicago,  111. 

92.  Manual  Arts  Press,  Peoria,  111. 

93.  Spon  &  Chamberlain,  123-125  Liberty  Street,  New  York  City. 

94.  Howard  Publishing  Co.,  Washington,  D.  C. ' 

95.  Farm  Poultry  Pub.  Co.,  Boston,  Mass. 

96.  International  Harvester  Co.,  Harvester  Building,  Chicago,  IlL 

97.  C.   Bell  &  Sons,  Ltd.,  York  House,  Portugal  St.,  Kingsway,  London,  Eng. 

The   Macmillan   Company  are   the  American  Agents  for  this  house. 
(See  14  above.) 

98.  Forbes  &  Co.,  443  So.  Dearborn  Street,  Chicago,  111. 

99.  Wilmer  Atkinson  Co.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

100.  Department  of  Agriculture,  Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  .\lbany,  N.  Y. 

loi.  A.  Flanagan  Company,  521  Wabash  Avenue,  Chicago,  111. 

102.  Lyons  &  Carnahan,  New  York  City. 

103.  James  J.  H.  Gregory,  Marblehead,  Mass. 

104.  Rural  New  Yorker,  333  West  30th  Street,  New  York  City. 

105.  The  Fruit  Grower,  St.  Joseph,  Mo. 

106.  Lea  &  Febiger,  New  York  City  and  Philadelphia. 

107.  .\llyn  &  Bacon,  Boston,  New  York,  Chicago. 

108.  Bobbs-Merrill  Company,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

109.  H.  L.  Russell,  Madison,  Wis. 

no.  Frank  Kleinheinz,  Madison,  Wis.  ' 

111.  American  School  of  Poultry  Husbandry,  Leavenworth,  Kan. 

112.  Moffatt,  Yard  &  Co.,  New  York. 

113.  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  New  York  City. 

114.  Massachusetts  Board  of  Agriculture,  State  House,  Boston. 

N 


CHAPTER   VI 

COUNTY  SCHOOLS  AND    HIGH    SCHOOL  DEPARTMENTS  IN  THE 

MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY    SYSTEM    COMPARED 

AS   TO    REQUIREMENTS   AND    ADVANTAGES  ^ 

The   Massachusetts   system  of  vocational  agricultural  education 
includes  separate  schools  and  departments  in  high  schools.     In  the 


Fig.  115.  —  Boys  are  taught  various  methods  of  artiticial  incubation  and  brooding. 
Brooder  parts  and  their  purposes.  "Related  Study"  at  School.  Concord  Agricultural 
Department. 

case  of  a  school,  the  state  pays  one-half  the  maintenance  expenses; 
in  the  case  of  a  department,  two-thirds  the  salary  of  the  agricultural 

^  Most  of  this  chapter  stating  features  still  in  force,  first  appeared  in  1Q16,  in  Bulletin 
No.  72  of  the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Education,  a  bulletin  not  available  for  unlimited 
distribution  outside  the  state.  The  parallel  column  plan  of  presentation  was  suggested 
by  Deputy  Commissioner  R.  O.  Small. 

178 


MASSACHUSETTS  NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM 


179 


instructor.  The  State  bears  no  part  of  the  cost  of  plant  and  equip- 
ment. There  is  not  a  dormitory  in  this  system.  In  all  cases,  the 
work  centers  on  productive  projects  thoroughly  studied  and  care- 
fully planned  at  school,  but  carried  out,  with  supervision  throughout 
the  producing  season   by  the  agricultural  instructors,   occasionally 


Fig.  116.  —  "School  Project.  '     Coal  stove  brooder  house  built  by  these  boys.     Later  oper- 
ated by  boys  without  facilities  for  home  projects.     Essex  County  Agricultural  School. 


at  a  school  or  on  the  farm  of  an  employer,  but  as  a  rule  on  the  home 
farms  of  the  pupils. 

Each  school  and  department  is  being  developed  as  a  separate  unit, 
suited  in  its  service  to  the  needs  of  the  farming  and  community  life 
of  its  particular  vicinity.  The  county  schools  have,  nevertheless, 
certain  characteristics  in  common ;  so,  also,  have  the  high  school  de- 
partments ;  while  there  are  certain  factors  which  are  common  to  both 
schools  and  departments. 


l8o  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

The  following  statements  and  comparisons,  aided  in  several  instances 
by  parallel  columns,  are  intended  to  throw  into  clear  relief,  for  those 
interested  in,  or  responsible  for  the  administration  of,  this  type  of 
education,  certain  requirements  and  advantages  of  both  schools  and 
departments. 

I .   Authorization 

(i)  Chapter  471  of  the  Acts  of  191 1  states  the  policy  of  this  Common- 
wealth which  governs  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  state- 
aided  vocational  agricultural  education.  This  is  the  fundamental 
law  upon  which  subsequent  authorizations  of  this  t}^e  of  training 
have  been  based.  This  law  vests  approval  of  schools  and  depart- 
•ments  in  the  Board  of  Education.^ 

(2)  But  this  act  is  not  sufficient  authorization  for  the  entering  upon 
this  type  of  training  by  a  county  or  a  school  committee.  Further 
legal  procedure  is  necessary.  Following  is  the  procedure  which  the 
Board  prefers : 

A.     County  School  B.     High  School  Department 

(A)     State  legislation  is  necessary,  (A)  No  further  State  legislation  is 

in    which    provision    is    made    for    a  necessary. 

special  board  of  trustees,  bond  issues  The  entire  cost  during  the  first  j^ear 

to  cover  first  cost  of  land,  buildings,  must  be   met  by  the   town  or  city, 

and   equipment,   and   a   tax   levy   to  since  state  aid  is  restricted  to  reim- 

meet  the  cost  of  maintenance  during  bursement     for     two-thirds     of    the 

the  first  year.  amount   paid   the   approved   agricul- 

The    entire    cost    during    the    first  tural    instructor    or    instructors    as 

year  must  be  met  by  the  county,  since  salary. 

state  aid  is  restricted  to  one-half  the  One  thousand  five  hundred  dollars 

"  net  maintenance  sum,"  and  consists  for  the  first  year  may  be  regarded  as 

of  reimbursement  for  approved   ex-  a     moderate      estimate,  —  $1200    or 

penses.  thereabouts     for     salary     and     the 

Seventy-five    thousand    dollars    to  balance  for  special  agricultural  sup- 

$roo,ooo  for  the  first  cost  of  establish-  plies  and  equipment.     Two  thousand 

ment  and  $16,000  to  $20,000  for  the  five  hundred  dollars  would  not  be  too 

first    year    of    maintenance    may    be  .  much  in  some  cases, 
regarded  as  reasonable  estimates. 

*  Chapter  215  of  the  Acts  of  igi;  accepts  the  provisions  of  the  "Smith-Hughes"  Act 
applicable  to  this  state  and  designates  the  Board  of  Education  as  the  state  board  to  co- 
operate with  the  Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Education. 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY  SCHOOL  SYSTEM        l8l 


(B)  Local  ordinance  is  required. 
The  Board  of  Education  has  ruled 
that,  in  the  interests  of  good  local 
government  and  good  school  admin- 
istration, a  vote  should  be  passed  by 
the  city  council  or  by  the  town  meet- 
ing authorizing  the  school  committee 
to  undertake  the  responsibilities  of  a 
department. 


(B)  County  referendum.  —  The 
special  acts  of  the  Legislature  have 
made  the  schools  dependent  upon 
favorable  referendum  votes  at  the 
November  elections  in  the  counties 
concerned. 

Thisfeatureinsuresproper  publicity. 
A  favorable  vote  indicates  that  public 
sentiment  has  been  aroused,  that 
public  opinion  has  been  informed, 
and  that  the  school  will  both  meet  a 
public  need  and  receive  public  support. 

2.    Control 

The  controlling  boards  of  county  schools  and  departments  differ 
as  indicated  below,  but  have  this  in  common,  that  each  must  desig- 
nate an  executive  officer  with  whom  the  Board  of  Education  shall 
officially  communicate. 


(i)  County  school 

A.  Board  of  trustees.  —  The 
special  acts  of  the  Legislature  vest 
control  of  schools  in  boards  of  trus- 
tees independent  of  public  schools. 

Three  trustees  consist  of  the 
county  commissioners  ex  officiis. 
Four  are  appointed  by  the  Governor. 
Each  Board  thus  has  seven  members. 

The  trustees  serve  without  pay, 
but  are  reimbursed  for  their  necessary 
traveling  expenses. 

B.  Director  is  executive  ofl5cer.  — 
The  Board  of  Trustees  designates  the 
director  of  the  school  as  its  executive 
oflBcer. 

C.  Records.  —  Minutes  of  all 
meetings  of  the  trustees  are  carefully 
made  and  kept  for  future  reference. 

Immediately  after  each  meeting 
a  copy  of  the  minutes  is  forwarded  to 
the  Board  of  Education. 


(2)  High  school  department 
A.  School  committee.  —  Chapter 
471  of  the  Acts  of  191 1  and  local  ordi- 
nances have  invariably  vested  con- 
trol of  departments  in  school  com- 
mittees. 


B.  Superintendent  is  executive 
oflBcer.  —  The  school  committee  des- 
ignates the  superintendent  of  schools 
as  its  executive  officer. 

C.  Records.  —  The  school  com- 
mittee may  transact  business  relating 
to  the  agricultural  department  at 
meetings  where  other  business  re- 
ceives attention ;  but  it  is  required 
to  keep  in  one  place,  for  convenient 
reference,  a  separate  and  complete 
record  of  all  its  acts  which  affect  the 
agricultural  department. 


l82 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


3.    Organization 

(i)  Cooperation  with  Educators.  —  Both  schools  and  departments 
work  in  cooperation  with  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College  and 
the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture.  All  joint  undertak- 
ings, such  as  promotion  of  club  work,  making  of  farm  management 
surveys,  demonstrations  of  improved  methods  of  farming,  are  covered 
by  written  memoranda  of  agreement  with  the  director  of  the  Extension 
Service  of  the  College,  as  the  joint  representative  of  the  College  and 
the    United    States    Department    of    Agriculture.      Instructors    in 


Fig.  117.  —  "School"  project.  Group  instruction  indoors.  Boys  building  another  type  of 
portable  poultry  house.  Anything  that  can  be  taken  out  of  a  big  barn  can  be  taken  out 
of  this  Arena.     Work  goes  on  rain  or  shine,  snow  or  blow.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 

departments  cooperate  closely  with  the  farm  bureaus  in  their  coun- 
ties. Our  law  provides  that  there  shall  not  be  county-aided  farm 
bureaus  in  counties  where  there  are  county  agricultural  schools. 
County  schools,  themselves,  maintain  farm  bureau  departments 
which  are  affiliated  with  the  other  farm  bureaus  of  the  state  and  the 
work  of  which  is  done  in  cooperation  with  the  Extension  Service. 
Our  schools  and  departments,  also,  cooperate  with  other  agencies, 
private  and  public,  including  the  Patrons  of  Husbandry  and  the 
state  departments  of  Forestry  and  Agriculture. 

Thus,  we  feel  that  in  Massachusetts  we  shall  soon  have  a  smooth- 
running  and  efficient  plan  of  organization  of  all  our  various  activities 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY  SCHOOL  SYSTEM        1 83 

in  agricultural  educalion,  Federal,  State,  County,  and  Local.  We 
are  undertaking  to  avoid  overlajiping  of  functions  and  needless  dupli- 
cation in  expenditures  of  public  funds.  The  author,  as  State  Super- 
visor of  vocational  agricultural  education,  has  made  it  business  of 
the  first  importance  to  promote  such  cooperation. 

(2)  Cooperation  with  Farmers.  —  Of  course  we  feel  that  little 
could  be  accomplished  through  the  cooperation  of  educators  without 
the  heartiest  and  closest  possible  cooperation  between  them  and 
practical  farmers.     Wherever  there  is  a  department  or  a  school,  our 


Fig.  118.  —  "Trial"  project.  Individual  instruction.  Frame  furnished  by  boy.  Patent 
covering  furnished  by  Instructor  Doolittle.  If  satisfactory,  this  covering  will  be  recom- 
mended to  others.  Project  of  Willard  Hemenway,  17,  on  his  home  farm.  Concord 
Agricultural  Department. 

law  requires  that  an  advisory  committee  of  farmers  shall  be  appointed 
to  advise  with  and  assist  the  administrative  officers  and  the  instruc- 
tors in  charge  of  this  work.  School  projects  are  important  for  illus- 
trating approved  methods  and  providing  convenient  facilities  for 
group  teaching  in  observational  and  practice  work ;  but  more  and 
more  are  we  emphasizing  home  projects,  not  merely  because  home 


1 84 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


projects  are  an  aid  to  keeping  the  study  of  agriculture  from  being  too 
bookish,  but  because  each  project  generally  becomes  a  demonstration 
in  its  neighborhood  of  a  better  method  of  farming  than  is  commonly 
followed  in  that  vicinity,  and  because  things  done  by  farmers  on  their 


Fig.  iig.  —  Village  boy's  second-year  project.  Made  poultry  house  and  yard.  In  back, 
yard  shown  in  Figures  8i  and  82.  Yielded  him  $35.44.  North  Easton  Agricultural 
Department. 

own  farms  are  usually  more  convincing  to  farmers  as  to  the  value  of 
improved  methods  than  are  things  done  on  the  premises  of  a  school. 
Dr.  H.  J.  Waters,  in  the  preface  to  his  recent  book,  "  The  Essentials 
of  Agriculture,"  says: 

"  In  no  way  is  it  possible  for  the  school  to  serve  the  local  community  more 
successfully  than  through  instruction  in  agriculture.  This  may  be  best  accom- 
plished through  the  utilization  of  the  facilities  of  the  neighborhood  as  a  laboratory. 
The  gardens,  orchards,  and  farms,  and,  indeed,  the  gardeners  and  farmers  them- 
selves, should  be  utilized  to  the  fullest  extent.  By  this  means  the  school  and 
the  community  are  brought  into  the  closest  relations,  and  there  is  awakened  among 
the  farmers  a  lively  interest  in  the  work  of  the  school." 

There  is  a  superlative  in  every  sentence  of  this  statement.  But 
our  experience  in  Massachusetts  since  the  beginning  of  our  home- 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM        185 


projects  efforts  in  1908  leads  us  to  believe  that,  at  every  point,  his 
declarations  are  warranted. 

(3)  The  following  plan  of  organization,  under  the  boards  of  control 
above  named,  has  the  approval  of  the  Board  of  Education.  It  pro- 
vides for  the  distinctive  management  of  schools  and  departments, 


Fig.  120.  — This  boy  also  worked  during  second  season  as  assistant  gardener  on  a  large 
estate  near  by,  thus  gaining  invaluable  experience  under  best  conditions.  Work  with 
animals  always  supplemented  by  continued  work  in  crop  production.  This  boy  now  in 
Massachusetts  Agricultural  College.     North  Easton  Agricultural  Department. 

with  important  adaptations  to  the  needs  of  each.  It  outlines  the 
work  of  the  advisory  committees  which  the  law  requires  boards  of 
control  to  appoint  "  to  counsel  with  and  advise  "  them  concerning 
the  efficient  training  of  their  agricultural  pupils ;  and  provides  for 
farm  bureau  work.     It  also  provides  for  "  professional  improvement." 


1 86 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


(4)  County  school 

A.  Director.  —  The  trustees  adopt 
rules  under  which  a  paid  officer  called 
director  is  appointed  and  made  their 
executive  officer  for  the  administra- 
tion of  the  school,  and  not  merely  for 
the  purpose  above  stated  of  official 
communication  between  the  trustees 
and  the  Board  of  Education. 


(5)  High  school  department 

A.   Superintendent  of  schools.  — 

The  superintendent  of  schools  is  the 
executive  officer  of  the  school  com- 
mittee in  the  administration  of  a  de- 
partment, and  not  merely  for  the  pur- 
pose above  stated  of  official  commu- 
nication between  his  committee  and 
the  Board  of  Education. 


Fig.   121.  —  William  Smith's  mangel  wurzel  beets  for  his  poultry,    feeds  for  poultry  are 
thoroughly  studied  and  crops  for  them  are  grown.     Concord  Agricultural  Department. 


The  director's  duties  include  nomi- 
nation for  appointment  by  the  Board 
of  Trustees  of  all  instructors  and  other 
subordinate  officers.  In  choosing  the 
director,  the  Board  of  Trustees  confer 
with  the  agricultural  representative 
of  the  Board  of  Education,  following 
the  plan  of  "  approval  in  advance." 

"  Approval  in  advance  "  means 
that  the  Board  of  Education,  having 
given  its  approval  to  the  choice  of  a 
man,  will  assume  joint  responsibility 
with  the  trustees  for  the  capable  per- 
formance of  his  duties.  Pending 
formal  notice  from  I  he  Board  of  Edu- 


The  duties  of  the  superintendent 
of  schools  include  nomination  of 
teachers. 

The  agricultural  Instructor  is 
chosen  because  of  his  liking  for  coun- 
try life,  his  demonstrated  ability  in 
practical  farming,  his  salutary  influ- 
ence upon  boys  and  young  men  four- 
teen to  twenty-five  years  of  age,  and 
his  special  qualifications  for  the  teach- 
ing and  supervision  of  home-farm 
projects. 

The  superintendent  of  schools, 
prior  to  nominating  an  agricultural 
instructor,  confers  with    the    agricul- 


MASSACHUSETTS  NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL  SYSTEM        187 


cation  of  withdrawal  of  approval,  it  is 
assumed  by  the  Board  of  Trustees 
that  final  approval  at  the  end  of  any 
fiscal  year  will  be  granted,  and  reim- 
bursement for  expenses  incurred  in  the 
employment  of  school  officers  will  be 


tural  representative  of  the  Board 
of  Education,  following  the  plan  of 
"  approval  in  advance." 

The  superintendent  assumes  re- 
sponsibilit}'  for  all  instruction  given, 
and    for    making      the    records    and 


Fig.  122.  — William  Smith  himself.  Father  is  superintendent  of  a  large  farm.  Besides  his 
projects,  which  owner  permitted,  he  worked  on  the  farm.  Entire  farm  earnings  in  1914, 
along  with  good  work  in  school,  $699.08.  Since,  has  taken  Short  Course  at  Massachusetts 
Agricultural  College.     Concord  Agricultural  Department. 


recommended  to  the   Legislature  by 
the  Board  of  Education. 

The  director  is  selected  because  of 
special  qualifications  for  service  as 
advisor  to  the  trustees  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  type  of  education  the 
school  represents ;  and  instructors 
are  chosen  because  of  their  apprecia- 
tion of  the  requirements  of  vocational 
education  and  their  special  qualifica- 
tions for  bringing  education  to  bear 
in  the  training  of  pupils  by  home-farm 
projects. 


reports    required    by    the    Board    of 
Education. 


i88 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


The  director,  prior  to  nominating 
instructors  and  other  subordinates, 
confers  with  the  agricultural  repre- 
sentative of  the  Board  of  Education, 
following  the  plan  of  "  approval  in 
advance." 

Adequate  clerical  assistance  for  the 
director  is  required. 

The  director  is  responsible  for  all 
instruction  given,  for  the  efficient  con- 
duct of  the  school,  and  for  making  the 
records  and  reports  required  by  the 
Board  of  Education. 

B.  Staff  of  specialists.  —  The 
school  employs  a  staff  of  specialists, 
larger  or  smaller  in  number,  depend- 
ing upon  the  enrollment  of  pupils. 

One  hundred  pupils  in  a  school 
warrant  a  considerable  degree  of  spe- 
cialization   among    instructors.     For 


B.  Agricultural  instructor  or  in- 
structors. — ■  The  agricultural  instruc- 
tor is  responsible  for  the  conduct  and 
the  efficient  agricultural  training  of 
the  pupils  in  his  department. 

A  department  may  employ  more 
than     one     special     agricultural     in- 


FiG.  123.  —  Caponizing.     Pupil  operating.     Esse.x  County  .Agricultural  School. 


example,  one  instructor  may  devote 
his  entire  time  to  the  teaching  of 
dairying;  another,  fruit  growing; 
another,  poultry  keeping;  and  an- 
other, gardening. 

With  a  small  enrollment,  instruc- 
tors who  teach  the  specialties  above 


structor,  depending  upon  the  enroll- 
ment of  pupils. 

An  instructor  in  a  department 
must  have  an  all-round  knowledge  of 
farm  work  and  of  the  sciences  appli- 
cable thereto.  If  there  are  two  agri- 
cultural instructors  in  a  department,  a 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM        189 


named  may  be  called  upon  to  teach 
such  subjects  as  English,  current  and 
local  history,  civics,  drawing,  agri- 
cultural chemistry,  agricultural 
physics,  agricultural  biology  and 
farm-shop  work.  Where  the  number 
of  pupils  is  greater,  special  teachers 
for  the  subjects  last  named  may  be 


degree  of  specialization  is  possible 
and  desirable. 

.\n  agricultural  instructor  is  not 
permitted  to  teach  non-agricultural 
subjects,  but  may  teach  agricultural 
chemistry,  physics,  biologj^,  or  mathe- 
matics. 

Ability     to      cooperate     in     farm 


Fig.  124.  —  Ralph  Anderson,  brother  of  Le  Roy.  shown  in  Figures  87  and  88,  same  year 
younger  brother  was  conducting  gardening  projects,  designed  and  built  this  house  for 
his  poultrj'  project  at  home.  A  thoroughly  workmanlike  job.  Ashtield  Agricultural 
Department. 


employed,  thus  enabling  the  agricul- 
tural instructors  to  devote  themselves 
to  their  specialties. 

Specialists  must  be  capable  of  co- 
operation in  farm  bureau  work  with 
adult  farmers. 


C.  Advisory  committee.  (A) 
Make-up.  —  The  advisory  committee 
of  a  school  generally  numbers  at 
least  fifteen,  including  one  or  two 
women,  of  the  best  practical  farmers. 


bureau  work  with  adult  farmers  is  of 
fundamental  importance.  Through 
such  work  the  instructor  comes  to 
know  the  farming  of  his  vicinity  as 
he  could  not  otherwise  hope  to  do ; 
and  no  man  can  be  expected  to  teach 
farming  in  a  communitj-  unless  he 
knows  the  farming  of  that  commu- 
nity. 

C.  Advisory  committee.  (A) 
Make-up.  —  The  advisory  com- 
mittee of  a  department  is  made  up  of 
the   best   practical   farmers,    varying 


190 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


from  five  to  fifteen  in  number,  from 
the  neighborhoods  from  which  pupils 
are  expected. 

The  committee  must  be  composed 
of  employers  and  employees. 

Each  committee  usually  has  at 
least  one  woman  member,  if  there  is 
a  capable  woman  farmer  in  the 
vicinity;  and  often  the  secretary  of 
the  committee  is  a  woman. 

The  superintendent  of  schools  and 
the  special  agricultural  instructor  are 
expected  to  meet  with  the  committee, 
unless  requested  not  to  do  so  on  some 
particular  occasion. 

The  advisory  committee  members 
serve  without  pay,  and  are  generally 
under  no  expense  for  travel  since  they 
usually  live  near  the  department. 


The  plan  of  one  school  provides  for 
a  chairman  and  two  other  members 
from  each  town  and  city  of  the  county. 

The  committee  must  be  composed 
of  employers  and  employees. 

Responsive  to  the  spirit  of  the 
times,  which  is  bringing  farmers  and 
business  men  together  for  the  work- 
ing out  of  problems  of  production  and 
distribution  of  farm  products,  one 
school  has  appointed  a  supplementary 
advisory  committee  of  business  men 
to  cooperate  with  the  advisory  com- 
mittee of  farmers  in  the  management 
and  supervision  of  its  farm  bureau 
department. 

The  director  is  expected  to  meet 
with  the  advisory  committee ;  also 
other  members  of  his  staff,  when  in- 
vited to  do  so. 

Advisory  committee  members 
serve  without  pay,  but  are  reim- 
bursed for  their  necessary  traveling 
expenses. 

(B)  Duties  of  the  advisory  committee,  for  either  a  school  or  a 
department,  may  be  of  two  kinds : 

a.  Formal  duties,  (a)  Organization,  officers,  committees,  minutes. 
— -  An  advisory  committee  usually  organizes  for  business  with  a  chair- 
man and  a  secretary.  In  some  cases  standing  committees  are  ap- 
pointed, such  as  committees  on  dairying,  fruit  growing,  and  the  like. 
Record  of  the  attendance  at  meetings  and  of  the  action  taken  is  kept. 

(b)  Acquaintance  with  policy  and  staff  of  the  school.  —  A  com- 
mittee may  meet  once  a  month  or  once  in  two  months.  Members 
may  be  assigned  to  visit  the  school  in  turn,  and  to  report  their  impres- 
sions of  the  policy  of  the  school  and  the  efficiency  of  the  individual 
members  of  the  staff  at  meetings  of  the  full  committee.  A  director 
or  agricultural  instructor  may  be  invited  to  sit  with  the  whole  com- 
mittee or  with  a  standing  committee.  The  members  are  busy  people 
and  generally  without  experience  in  teaching.  Perhaps  their  best 
service  is  rendered  when  directors  and  instructors  take  the  initiative 


MASSACHUSETTS   XO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEI^I 


191 


in  pointing  out  problems  confronted  and  difficulties  to  be  overcome. 
Committee  members  are  urged  to  visit  and  pass  judgment  upon  the 
home  project  or  other  agricultural  work  of  the  pupils. 

(c)  No  reports  or  recommendations  are  official  until  voted  by  a 
majority  and  transmitted  in  writing  by  the  secretary  to  the  trustees 
or  school  committee  in  charge. 

b.  Informal  duties,  (a)  Friendly  consultation  with  the  instructors 
and  the  controlling  board. 

(b)  Making  favorably  known  the  work  and  aims  of  the  school  or 
department. 

D.  Branches  of  county  schools.  —  The  county  school  may  be  so 
organized  that  part  of  its  instruction  shall  be  given  at  a  small  central 


'  >  ' 


•  V'^IT  """^   ""^ 


Fig.  125.  —  Glimpses  of  the  poultry  plant  in  which  the  Essex  County  School  is  now  con- 
ducting its  third  annual  egg-laying  contest  open  to  birds  of  various  breeds  owned  by 
residents  of  the  county.  Pupils  built  the  houses  and  yards  and  are  studying  the  con- 
test from  all  angles.     Good  for  the  boys  and  good  for  the  county. 

school  and  part  near  the  homes  of  the  more  distant  pupils  in  branches 
consisting  of  one-  or  two-teacher  agricultural  departments  in  high 
schools. 

E.  Farm    bureau    department.  —  F.  Farm    bureau    cooperation.  — 

The    law  authorizing   county  aid  for  The  agricultural  instructors,  as  they 

certain    corporations,    such    as    farm  make   their   rounds   of   home-project 

bureaus     or     improvement     leagues,  supervision  among  the  farms  of  their 


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MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY  SCHOOL  SYSTEM 


193 


which  are  organized  not  for  profit  but 
for  the  betterment  of  farming,  pro- 
hibits such  county-aided  corporations 
in  counties  where  there  are  county 
agricultural  schools.  The  Legisla- 
ture obviously  intended  to  prevent 
expenditure  of  public  funds  upon 
overlapping,  competing,  or  conflicting 
agencies. 

Certainly  the  county  school  is  ex- 
pected to  do  everything  in  its  territory 
for  the  betterment  of  farming  which 
State  and  Federal  agencies  are  not 
prepared  to  do.  Each  gives  both  exten- 
sion service  and  vocational  education. 

Each  county  school,  accordingly, 
maintains  a  farm  bureau  depart- 
ment. 

The  broad  obligations  of  the  Nor- 
folk County  Agricultural  School  with 
reference  to  the  work  of  its  farm  bu- 
reau department  were  stated  in  the 
act  providing  for  its  maintenance,  as 
follows :  "  Members  of  the  school 
staff  shall  investigate  farm  and  mar- 
ket conditions  for  the  purpose  of  ad- 
vising individuals  and  organizations 
with  reference  to  better  business 
methods  among  farmers  and  more 
satisfactory  methods  of  marketing 
farm  products,  shall  give  instruction 
in  the  formation  of  cooperative  en- 
terprises, and  shall  perform  any  other 
work  calculated  to  promote  the  agri- 
cultural or  rural  development  of  the 
county.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
staff  to  keep  in  touch  with,  and  to 
bring  to  their  assistance,  all  agencies 
in  the  commonwealth  or  elsewhere  that 
will  enable  them  to  utilize  the  latest 
and  best  knowledge  in  the  furtherance 
of  their  work."  The  other  county 
schools  work  under  like  legislation. 


pupils,  become  acquainted  with  adult 
farmers.  The  farm  bureau  type  of 
service  is  expected  of  them  by  the  tax- 
payers who  are  contributing  to  their 
support,  and  they  render  it  to  the 
extent  that  they  can  do  so  without 
interference  with  the  proper  perform- 
ance of  their  primary  duties  as  in- 
structors of  pupils  regularly  enrolled 
in  their  classes. 

']*here  are  farm  bureaus  in  all  coun- 
ties where  there  are  agricultural  de- 
partments in  high  schools.  In  fact, 
some  of  the  departments  have  been 
started  as  the  direct  results  of  farm 
bureau  work.  The  instructors  in 
their  out-of-school  work  with  adult 
farmers  cooperate  with  the  farm 
bureaus.  Division  of  labor  and 
economy  of  time  and  travel  thus 
result. 

The  broad  obligations  of  the  farm 
bureaus  which  receive  county  aid  are 
identical  with  those  of  the  farm 
bureau  department  of  the  county 
agricultural  school  as  stated  in  the 
column  opposite  hereto.  And,  first 
or  last,  the  cooperative  activities  of 
the  agricultural  instructors  are 
equally  broad. 

Thus  State  and  Federal  agencies 
not  only  are  brought  in  when  their 
help  is  needed,  but  their  advice  is 
followed  up  by  the  instructors  in  its 
application  to  the  conditions  of  in- 
dividual farms. 

The  benefits  are  reciprocal.-  In 
return  for  their  assistance,  both  the 
practical  farmers  and  the  county 
agents  help  the  agricultural  instruc- 
tors. 


194 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL  SYSTE:M        1 95 

G.  Program :  Time  allotment  for  day  pupils.  (A)  The  county 
school  is  required  to  provide  instruction  fifty  weeks  each  year,  includ- 
ing the  summer  supervision  of  productive  farm  work.  No  program 
of  a  school  is  approved  which  does  not  give  at  least  80  per  cent  and  not 
more  than  90  per  cent  of  the  whole  time  allotment  to  vocational  in- 
struction. At  least  50  per  cent  of  the  whole  time  allotment,  including 
the  summer,  must  be  given  to  project  study  and  work,  and  the 
rest  of  the  time  allotment  up  to  the  minimum  of  80  per  cent  must  be 
given  to  study  definitely  related  to  the  productive  work.  Not  more 
than  20  per  cent  of  the  whole  time  allotment  may  be  given  to  general 
education ;  and  at  least  10  per  cent  of  the  whole  time  —  namely,  one- 
half  of  the  whole  time  allotment  to  general  education  —  must  be 


Fig.  128.  —  George  Walcott,  17.  Father  thrifty  market  gardener  and  dair>-man.  Much 
poultry  kept.  Boy's  1914  farm  earnings  amounted  to  S266.19.  Had  home  project  in 
market  gardening,  taught  and  supervised  by  agricultural  instructor.  Boys  from  best 
farms  in  vocational  agricultural  schools  and  departments.  Concord  Agricultural  Depart- 
ment. 

given  to  instruction  in  citizenship,  personal  hygiene,  occupational 
diseases  and  accidents.  The  previous  sentence  applies  to  all  kinds  of 
state-aided  vocational  education  in  Massachusetts. 

(B)  The  agricultural  department  in  a  high  school  is  required  to  pro- 
vide instruction  at  least  forty  weeks  each  year,  including  the  summer 
supervision  of  productive  farm  work.  Fifty  per  cent  of  the  whole 
school  time  allotment  may  be  devoted  to  vocational  instruction, 
and  50  per  cent  given  to  regular  high  school  subjects.  This  time 
allotment  applies  to  branches  of  county  schools  located  at  high 
schools. 

H.  Size  of  classes.  —  The  allowance  of  pupils  to  instructor  in  a 
county  school  is  15  to  30,  depending  upon  the  radius  of  travel  and  the 


196 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


degree  of  specialization.  One  instructor  in  a  high  school  department 
is  not  permitted  to  teach  or  supervise  more  than  20  pupils. 

Classes  are  not  permitted  to  be  overloaded  in  anticipation  of  drop- 
ping out  pupils.  When  the  maximum  class  enrollment  approved  for 
a  school  or  a  department  has  been  reached,  a  waiting  list  from  which 
vacancies  may  be  filled  is  estabhshed. 

I.  Persistency  of  attendance.  —  When  less  than  75  per  cent  of  the 
original  enrollment  in  any  school  or  department  continue  as  members 


ss<r 


y^ 


Fig.  129.  —  Third-year  boys  may  specialize  in  market  gardening,  or  combine  quick  turn- 
over cash  crops  with  long-term  development  projects  in  fruit  growing.  A  fine  cabbage 
project  at  the  school.     Boys  grew  crop.     Essex  County  .Agricultural  School. 

throughout  the  course,  and  when  the  per  cent  of  attendance  in  any 
school  or  department  falls  below  75,  evidence  is  demanded  to  show  rea- 
son why  state  aid  should  not  be  stopped.  This  is  a  general  requirement 
which  applies  to  all  state-aided  vocational  schools  in  Massachusetts. 
J.  Special  efficiency  corps.  —  County  schools  of  over  50  pupils 
are  required  by  the  general  regulations  governing  approval  of  state- 


MASSACHUSETTS  NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL  SYSTEM        197 


aided  vocational  schools  to  establish  the  "  functions  "  of  "  sales  agent  " 
and  "  educational  manager,"  with  certain  adaptations  to  the  project 
plan  of  vocational  agricultural  education,  but  with  definite  assign- 
ment of  "  efl&ciency  corps  "  duties.^ 

K.  Stafif  "Vacation  "  and  "  Professional  Improvement  "  provisions. 
—  The  school  or  department  must  be  so  organized  as  to  allow  each 
director  and  instructor 
one  month  of  vacation, 
and  to  require  not  less 
than  two  weeks,  and 
not  more  than  two 
months,  of  what,  for 
lack  of  a  belter  descrip- 
tion, has  been  called 
"  professional  improve- 
ment." 

Agriculture,  of  all 
professions,  perhaps  is 
the  hardest  to  master, 
and  of  all  business,  the 
least  well  organized  and 


Fig.  130.  —  Joseph  Jekanowski,  1 6.  ".K  real  student  ami 
a  real  worker."  Helping  with  the  tobacco  harvest  at 
home.  Farmers  in  the  Connecticut  valley  specialize 
heavily  in  tobacco  and  onions.  Hadley  Agricultural 
Department. 


Nor  can  teaching,  as  such, 


estabhshed.     Novounsj 

man  entering  upon  the 

teaching  of  agriculture 

can  be  supposed  to  be 

a    master    of    farming, 

either  as  a  profession  or  as  a  business 

be  learned  once  for  all. 

This  is  emphasized  in  Massachusetts  by  the  definite  "  professional 

'The  general  regulations  "as  to  special  efficiency  corps"  are  as  follows: 
The  Sales  Agent.  —  In  all  schools  of  over  50  pupils  there  shall  be  established  a  "  function  " 
of  some  member  of  the  faculty,  the  purpose  of  which  shall  be :    (a)  To  secure  work  for  the 
shops.     (6)  To  find  a  market  for  shop  products,     (c)  To  place  trained  pupils.     (</)  To 
follow  up  pupils,     (e)  To  secure  publicity  and  cooperation. 

The  Educational  Manager.  —  In  all  schools  of  over  50  pupils  there  shall  be  established  a 
"function"  of  some  member  of  the  faculty,  the  purpose  of  which  shall  be  :  (a)  To  promote 
efficient  instruction,  (b)  To  follow  the  educational  and  trade  progress  of  each  pupil,  (c) 
To  "prescribe"  special  work  for  individual  pupils  as  their  needs  may  require. 


198 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


improvement  "  requirement.  By  "  professional  improvement  "  is 
meant  such  programs  of  work,  observation,  study,  and  lesson  plan- 
ning as  shall  be  approved  in  each  case  from  year  to  year  by  the 
Board  of  Education. 

With  a  limited  number  of  pupils,  it  has  been  possible  to  take  care 
of  the  project  supervision  in  summer  by  devoting  about  three  days  a 

week  to  it.  In  such 
cases,  two  days  a  week 
throughout  the  summer 
may  be  reserved  for 
"  professional  improve- 
ment," and  the  period 
of  absence  in  winter  cor- 
respondingly reduced. 
Professional  improve- 
ment time,  apart  from 
the  August  and  Decem- 
ber conferences  which 
all  directors  and 
teachers  are  required 
to  attend,  may  be  in 
one  block ;  or  it  may  be 
divided  and  distributed, 
week  by  week,  through 
the  year. 

The  programs  of 
"  professional  improve- 
ment "  are  never  the 
same  for  any  two  in- 
structors, and  are  seldom  the  same  for  one  instructor  any  two  years. 
This  entire  period  has  been  spent  by  one  instructor  at  the  Massa- 
chusetts Agricultural  College.  For  a  newcomer  to  the  state  such 
a  course  affords  an  admirable  opportunity  to  make  first-hand  ac- 
quaintance with  the  speciaHsts  on  the  college  staff,  and  to  know 
the  doctrines  they  hold  to  be  important  for  the  improvement  of 
Massachusetts  farming.     This  entire  period  has  been  spent  by  an- 


Fig.  131.  —  Joseph  Jekanowski  and  his  brothers  and 
sisters.  Everybody  works,  even  father,  who  is  hanging 
tobacco  in  shed  at  side  of  field.  Joseph  won  third  prize 
at  public  speaking  of  Hopkins  .Academy  in  Town  Hall. 
Participant  in  all  "school  projects,"  of  which  there  are 
several ;  but  works  chiefly  on  tobacco  at  home.  Hadley 
Agricultural  Department. 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL  SYSTEM 


199 


':.-X_,,?X>i^--X'>*^,* 


Other  instructor  working  for  a  market  gardener,  because  his  previous 
practical  experience  had  been  somewhat  deficient  in  this  field.  A 
month  of  such  a  period  has  been  spent  by  an  instructor  in  collecting 
farm  management  data  in  territory  served  by  his  school,  and  a 
second  month  in  working  on  the  school  farm,  to  get  a  better  grasp  of 
the  all-round  routine  of  practical  farm  management  in  the  height 
of  the  producing  season. 
Usually  a  program  con- 
sisting of  one  month  of 
investigation,  at  home 
or  at  a  distance,  and  one 
month  of  preparation  of 
lesson  outlines  and 
teaching  materials,  is 
to  be  preferred. 

This  takes  the  mind  of 
both  teacher  and  direc- 
tor away,  for  a  specified 
time  annually,  from  the 
ordinary  "  chores  "  of 
instruction  and  admin- 
istration. 

This  positive  limita- 
tion is  imposed  that 
the  department  instructors  and  the  plant  project  instructors  in  a 
school  are  not  permitted  to  be  away  from  their  teaching  and 
supervision  of  projects  more  than  one  week  for  vacation,  and  one 
week  for  professional  improvement,  at  a  time  during  the  grow- 
ing and  harvesting  seasons;  and  these  two  weeks  must  not  be 
consecutive. 


Fig.  132.  —  Joseph  Jekanowski  lathing  tobacco.  Smaller 
children  big  enough  to  pass  him  single  plants.  Hadley 
Agricultural  Department. 


4.    Location 

The  problem  of  locating  a  high  school  agricultural  department 
is  much  simpler  than  is  the  problem  of  locating  a  county  agri- 
cultural school.  This  will  be  evident  from  the  following  con- 
siderations : 


200 


VOCATION.\L  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


(i)  County  school 
A.  On  a  farm.  —  The  Massachu- 
setts plan  of  vocational  agricultural 
education  is  a  no-dormitory  plan; 
that  is  to  say,  in  the  cases  of  schools, 
as  in  those  of  departments,  projects 
conducted  by  pupils  at  their  own 
homes  are  the  fundamental  factors  in 
the   training'  of   pupils.     All   of   the 


(2)  High  school  department 
A.   In  a  high  school  building.  —  A 

department  is  generally  located  in  or 
near  the  high  school  building. 

Those  departments  have  flour- 
ished best  which  hav-e  been  most 
closely  identified  with  the  headquar- 
ters and  spirit  of  the  high  school 
proper.     Pupils  generally  devote  one- 


i''    >^> 


Fig.  133.  —  Larger  children  strong  enough  to  pass  lath  laden  with  half-dozen  plants. 
Father's  forty-acre  farm  was  bought  about  twenty  years  ago  as  "stump  land"  for  S500. 
Not  for  sale  now  at  Si  2,000.  Father  has  paid  S300  an  acre  for  more  land  not  so  good 
as  this.     Father  a  good  citizen.     Hadley  .Agricultural  Department. 


county  schools  are,  however,  located 
on  farms. 

Perhaps  the  main  justification  of 
the  county  school  is  that  there  are 
pupils  from  villages  and  cities  who 
desire  to  learn  farming,  who  have  no 
land  at  home,  and  who  can  be  given 
parts  of  their  training  on  a  school 
farm  to  good  advantage. 


half  their  time  to  regular  high  school 
subjects.  Because  the  schedules  pro- 
vide that  the  high  school  subjects 
shall  be  taught  in  one  half  day  and  the 
agricultural  in  the  other  half  day, 
convenience  in  getting  from  one  class- 
room to  another  is  a  factor  in  favor  of 
locating  a  department  on  the  high 
school  premises. 

It  is  immaterial  whether  or  not 
the  high  school  has  land.  That  is  to 
say,  projects  of  pupils  are  studied  at 
the  school,  but  are  carried  out  at  their 


MASSACHUSETTS  NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM        20I 


B.  Accessibility.  — •  For  the  bene- 
fit of  both  boys  who  have  land  at 
home  and  boys  who  have  none,  the 
school  should  be  located  at  the  most 
easily  accessible  spot  from  the  point 
of  view  of  transportation. 

Primary  consideration  should  be 
given  to  selecting  a  site  for  the  school 
which  can  be  easily  reached  from  the 
most  considerable  farming  area. 

Boarding  or  working  places  can 
generally  be  found  near  the  school  for 
the  limited  number  of  pupils  who  are 
without  land  at  home  and  need  the 
practice  work  which  the  routine 
operations  of  the  school  afford. 

C.  Acreage  and  variety  of  soil.  — 
The  land  selected  should  be  t\'pical 
of  the  surrounding  farming  region, 
and  permit  of  demonstrating  the  best 
methods  of  farming  practicable  for 
that  county. 

D.  One- teacher  branches  in  high 
schools,  like  the  departments,  when 
organized  at  the  more  distant  points, 
may  teach  village  boys  who  have  only 
a  small  amount  of  land  projects  of 
first  and  second  years,  and  promote  to 
the  county  school  for  third-  and  fourth- 
year  projects. 


own  homes  or  at  the  homes  of  other 
practical  farmers  in  the  vicinity. 

Illustrative  material  and  practice 
work  are  also  found  on  neighboring 
farms. 

One  high  school  has  a  greenhouse, 
and  the  agricultural  department  has 
made  good  use  of  it. 

Now  and  then  a  high  school  has 
land  more  or  less  under  cultivation. 
Possession  of  land  is  not  required  for 
approval  and  state  aid,  and  has 
proved  to  be  a  doubtful  advantage  in 
the  cases  of  more  than  one  department. 

B.  Accessibility  has  usually  been 
given  due  consideration  in  locating 
the  high  school  buildings. 

No  high  school  so  far  has  been 
found  so  lacking  in  accessibility  as  to 
necessitate  the  location  of  an  agricul- 
tural department  elsewhere  than  in, 
or  adjacent  to,  the  high  school  build- 
ing. 


202 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


5.    Equipment 

There  is  a  radical  difference  in   the  equipment  requirements  of 
schools  and  departments. 


(i)  County  school 

A.  The  farm  should  consist  of 
well-diversified  soils  and  topography. 
Land  as  good  as  any  to  be  found  in  the 
county  should  be  selected,  and  land 
suited  to  the  various  farm  crops  and 
animals   which   can   be    produced   in 


(2)  High  school  department 
A.  No  farm  is  required.  Farm 
products,  methods  of  production, 
farm  buildings  and  equipment  are 
studied  on  farms  in  the  vicinity  and 
at  the  homes  of  the  pupils.  Though 
one  high  school  has  a  greenhouse,  and 


Fig.  134.  —  Florence  Jekanovvski,  who  has  hung  the  tobacco-laden  laths  on  the  wagon 
rack.  Load  on  way  to  curing  shed.  Polish  people,  no  less  than  the  old  settlers,  are 
making  land  pay  in  health,  happiness,  and  general  prosperity.  There  is  a  high-priced 
automobile  on  this  farm.     Hadley  Agricultural  Department. 


that  county  should  be  chosen.  Rea- 
sons for  this  are  obvious.  It  should 
be  the  aim  of  the  school  to  establish 
the  highest  standards  of  production ; 
that  is,  it  should  undertake  to  show 
pupils  what  farming  is  at  its  best. 
Such   a   policy    fits   into    the   home- 


its  agricultural  department  has  made 
good  use  of  it,  some  of  the  very  best 
instruction  is  being  given  by  depart- 
ments which  have  no  greenhouses, 
but  which  have  established  coopera- 
tive relations  with  owners  of  green- 
houses   in    sections     where     market 


MASSACHUSETTS  NO-DORMITORY  SCHOOL  SYSTEM        203 


project  plan ;  because  boys  whose 
home  farms  are  producing  inferior 
crops  and  animals  will  have  standards 
by  which  their  home  production  may 
be    gauged,    and    the    improvements 


gardening  is  a  very  important  branch 
of  farming.  Practice  work  under 
economic  conditions  is  proving  to  be 
better  than  practice  work  under 
school      conditions,  —  provided     the 


Fig.  135.  — "Relateil  Study.  ■  Trial  project"  in  tomato  growing.  Testing  early  variety. 
Planned  by  instructor,  executed  and  observed  by  boys.  Boys  selected  and  cleaned 
seed  for  next  trial  as  part  of  "school  project."     Essex  County  Agricultural  School. 


they  make  from  year  to  year  may  be 
measured.  High  standards  thus  may 
become  not  discouraging,  but  en- 
couraging, factors  in  the  training  of 
the  pupils. 

The  farm  should  not  be  a  fancy 


practice  work  in  the  former  case  is 
given  proper  educational  value  by 
study  at  the  school,  in  the  greenhouse, 
and  elsewhere,  of  all  factors  involved 
in  the  production  and  marketing  of 
greenhouse  crops. 


204 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


farm,  —  a  farm  where  money  is  spent 
and  not  a  farm  where  money  is  made  ; 
that  is  to  say,  the  equipment  should 
be  modern  and  varied,  but  of  the  kind 
that  the  most  practical  farmer  would 
choose.  Such  buildings  as  barns  and 
poultry  houses  should  be  of  the  kind 
that  a  farmer  with  a  moderate  amount 
of  capital  would  wish  to  erect  as  parts 


Fig.  136.  —  Of  course  the  boys  everj'- 
where  promptly  discover  that  every 
plant  has  its  pests,  and  the  battle  for 
protection  as  promptly  begins.  See 
opposite  page. 

of  a  convenient,  sanitary,  and  practi- 
cal plant.  Quarters  for  all  kinds  of 
live-stock  suited  to  the  locality  should 
be  provided.  The  school  might  or 
might  not  own  all  of  the  live-stock 
dealt  with  in  classroom  demonstra- 
tions. The  best  obtainable  speci- 
mens of  the  breeds  studied  should  be 
seen  and  handled,  and  proper  accom- 
modations for   keeping   them   should 


Three  high  schools  have  fruit  trees 
on  the  school  premises  which  are 
taken  care  of  by  the  pupils  in  the 
agricultural  departments.  These 
afford  practice  work  from  season  to 
season  in  connection  with  the  various 
processes  of  propagating,  pruning, 
spraying,  thinning,  picking,  packing, 
and  marketing. 

Fruit  growers,  however,  have  been 
very  ready  to  cooperate  with  agri- 
cultural instructors  in  affording  pupils 
practice  work.  Several  departments 
have  conducted  campaigns  by  pupils 
for  eradication  of  nests  of  insects  in- 
jurious to  fruit,  prizes  being  offered 
by  local  persons  or  organizations  and 
by'  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture. 
Pruning  and  spraying  campaigns 
have  been  conducted  by  pupils,  the 
pupils,  after  attaining  the  proper 
degree  of  proficiency,  being  paid  for 
their  services  by  those  for  whom  the 
work  has  been  done.  As  many  as 
1200  trees  have  been  pruned  and 
sprayed  annually  by  the  pupils  in  a 
single  department. 

While  pupils  show  interest  and 
take  pride  in  work  done  at  a  school, 
they  show  even  greater  interest  and 
take  greater  pride  in  work  they  do 
on  the  premises  of  farmers. 

Moreover,  things  done  on  farms 
tend  to  extend  the  influence  of  better 
methods  throughout  the  countryside, 
as  the  limited  demonstrations  pos- 
sible at  a  high  school  even  under  the 
best  conditions  cannot  be  made  to  do. 

At  one  high  school  there  is  a  pen 
of  poultry.  But  it  is  believed  that  the 
best  work  has  been  done  where  in- 
structors have  introduced  high-pro- 
ducing   birds    by    keeping    them    for 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY  SCHOOL  SYSTEM        205 


make  it  easy  to  borrow  or  hire 
animals  when  needed.  When  not 
filled  with  live-stock  these  quarters 
would  still  be  on  view  as  models  of 
their  several  kinds  for  housing  and 
caring  for  the  various  types  of  farm 
animals. 

A   museum   for   collecting   out-of- 
date  farm  implements  and  machines 


themselves,  thus  exemplifying  meth- 
ods and  standards  for  the  benefit 
of  their  pupils  and  other  interested 
persons;  where,  for  illustrative  pur- 
poses, visits  to  commercial  poultry 
plants  have  been  made  ;  and  where,  in 
practice  work,  the  boys  have  been 
taught  to  build  their  own  houses 
and    trained   in   competent    methods 


-I     . 


Fig.  136.  Continued.  —  .\dvisory  Committee  member,  demonstrating  mechanism  and  ad- 
vantages of  his  potato  sprayer.  Best  farmers  advise  with  and  assist  instructors. 
BrimBeld  Agricultural  Department. 


would  serve  a  most  excellent  informa- 
tional  purpose  Visits  to  fancy  farms 
might  be  made  at  will  for  purposes  of 
observation.  But  the  main  object 
of  the  school  should  be  to  provide  the 
best  models  of  buildings,  implements, 


of    poultry    keeping    at    their    own 
homes. 

.\  poultry  instructor's  family  may 
relieve  him  at  times  of  some  of  the 
"  chores  "  required  by  his  own  birds. 
It  is  difficult  for  an  instructor  to  find 


2o6 


VOCATION.\L  AGRICULTUR.\L   EDUCATION 


machines,  and  animals  for  use  in  eco- 
nomic and  profitable  production. 


B.  Classrooms  and  their  equip- 
ment. —  Libraries,  laboratories,  and 
other  classrooms  suitable  for  the  study 
of  agriculture  and  the  various  sciences 
related  thereto  are  required.  The 
school  assumes  responsibilit}-  for  the 
well-rounded  education  of  the  pupil 
in  all  matters  pertaining  to  agricul- 
ture and  country  life.  Classrooms 
are  adapted  to  the  special  purposes  of 
the  school. 

Equipment  for  the  classrooms  is 
selected  because  of  its  adaptability  to 
training  in  agriculture.  Submitted 
to  the  test  of  practical  farming,  much, 
for  example,  of  the  equipment  usually 
found  in  high  school  science  labora- 
tories is  omitted,  and  other  e(|uip- 
ment  selected. 

Water  and  gas  are  required. 

The  best  books,  bulletins,  periodi- 
cals, and  card-indexing  systems  deal- 


relief  from  the  "  chores  "  required  by 
the  maintenance  of  birds  at  a  high 
school,  and  it  is  observed  that  a 
poultry  instructor's  time  can  be  spent 
to  better  advantage  in  the  super- 
vision of  numerous  poultry  projects 
at  the  homes  of  his  pupils  than  in 
doing  poultry  "  chores  "  at  the  school. 

Possession  of  a  flock  of  birds  by  a 
high  school,  therefore,  is  not  advised. 

It  may  be  an  advantage  for  a  high 
school  that  has  neither  land  nor  live- 
stock to  have  a  well-rounded  farm 
equipment  of  hand  tools,  including 
tools  for  pruning,  sprayers,  seed 
sowers,  wheel  hoes,  and  the  like. 
Pupils  hard-pressed  for  capital  may 
thus  borrow  or  rent  tools  of  the  school, 
and  save  most  of  their  money  for  fer- 
tilizers, spray  materials,  feeds,  and 
other  supplies. 

B.  Classroom  and  its  equipment. 
—  The  special  agricultural  equip- 
ment of  the  department  may  be 
limited  to  a  suitably  appointed  room 
for  study. 

Ordinary  school  desks  are  not 
suitable.  In  working  out  a  problem 
in  connection  with  a  home  project,  it 
is  often  necessary  to  consult  several 
books  and  bulletins.  Accounting  is 
required  in  connection  with  all  proj- 
ects. That  is  to  say,  more  elbow 
room  than  that  afforded  bj'  the  ordi- 
nary school  desk  is  required. 

Flat-top  desks  or  table  space 
measuring  about  25  by  3  feet  per  pupil 
best  meet  the  needs  of  the  agricultural 
room. 

.•\n  equipment  for  the  study  of 
soils  and  plants  brought  from  the 
homes  of  the  pupils  is  also  desirable. 
There    should    be    a    Babcock    tester. 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY  SCHOOL   SYSTEM        207 


ing    with    agricultural    subjects    are 
available. 

About  20  per  cent  of  the  time 
of  the  pupil  may  be  devoted  to 
non-agricultural    subjects,     such     as 


The  agricultural  classroom  generally 
presents  the  appearance  of  a  combina- 
tion of  classroom  and  science  labora- 
tory. 

Water  and  gas  are  highly  desirable. 


Fig.  137.  —  Vincent  Dunn,  a  city  boy  with  agricultural  bent  and  tillage  land  in  suburbs. 
Good  teamster.  Fine  judge  of  live-stock.  Second  in  state  championship  contest. 
Won  total  of  S6s  in  1914  judging  at  fairs.  Hauling  home  his  potatoes.  Marlborough 
Agricultural  Department. 


English,  current  history,  and  civics. 
Suitable  reference  materials  dealing 
with  these  subjects  are  part  of  the 
equipment  of  the  school. 


L 


The  best  books,  bulletins,  periodi- 
cals,and  card-indexing  systems  dealing 
withagricultural  subjects  areavailable. 

Fifty  per  cent  of  the  time  of  the 
pupil  in  the  department  may  be  de- 
voted to  non-agricultural  subjects. 
The  textbook,  reference  book,  and 
other  supplies  required  for  this  in- 
struction of  the  agricultural  pupils 
is  not  estimated  as  part  of  the  expense 
of  the  vocational  agricultural  depart- 
ment, but  is  chargeable  to  high  school 
work  proper. 


208 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


C.   Examples.       Smith     Agricul- 
tural   School,    Northampton.  —  The 

main  school  building,  library  facilities, 
classrooms,  laboratories,  and  farm 
shops  best  designed  and  equipped 
for  vocational  agricultural  school  pur- 
poses probably  are  those  of  the  Smith 


C.   Examples.        a.      Ashfield.  — 

The  department  in  Ashfield  is  located 
in  Sanderson  Academy,  which  insti- 
tution serv^es  as  the  local  high  school. 
Attractive  wooded  knolls  in  the 
rear  afford  some  opportunity  for 
group  instruction  in   what  might  be 


Fig.  138.  —  Vincent  Dunn's  potato  sorter.  Believer  in  labor  saving  devices,  and  all- 
round  hustler.  Potatoes  yielded  at  rate  of  almost  even  400  bushels  per  acre.  Entire 
farm  earnings  in  1914  when  15  years  old,  $223.72.  Now  in  Massachusetts  Agricul- 
tural College.  Agricultural  Instructor  Brouson,  who  taught  him  stock-judging,  etc.,  at 
left.     Marlborough  Agricultural  Department. 


Agricultural  School,  Northamp- 
ton. Though  not  established  by 
the  county,  this  school  is  of  the  type 
of  the  county  school  in  its  location 
and  appointments,  and  serves  the  pur- 
poses of  such  a  school  for  the  greater 
part  of  Hampshire  County. 

The  soil  of  the  school  farm  is  well 
diversified,  typical  of  the  farming 
land  in  its  vicinity,  and  affords  prac- 
tice work  and  facilities  for  demonstra- 
tions in  all  branches  of  farming  except 


termed  landscape  forestry.  The 
lawns  afford  practice  work  for  group 
instruction  in  grading,  also  in  planting 
and  caring  for  ornamental  shrubbery. 
Ashfield  is  at  the  end  of  a  stage 
line  high  in  the  hills  to  the  west  of 
the  Connecticut  Riv^er.  Agricultural 
pupils  are  in  attendance  from  several 
surrounding  towns.  Pupils  furnish 
their  own  conveyances  or  walk  dis- 
tances covering  a  radius  from  the 
school  of  about  five  miles. 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM 


log 


dairying.  Dairying  at  this  school  is 
taught  by  home  projects.  The  Mas- 
sachusetts Agricultural  College,  only 
a  few  miles  away  by  electric  cars, 
affords  abundant  dairy  equipment, 
including  specimens  of  the  leading 
dairy  breeds,  for  observation  purposes  ; 
and  those  pupils  who  plan  to  special- 
ize in  dairying  take  the  dairy  short 


The  farms  of  the  vicinity,  supple- 
mented by  occasional  trips  to  farms 
at  a  distance,  including  that  of  the 
Massachusetts  Agricultural  College, 
r.fford  illustrative  material  for  the  ob- 
servational phases  of  the  instruction. 
The  group  instruction  of  pupils  in 
practice  work  is  done  on  neighboring 
farms.     The  instruction  centers  here. 


Fig.  139.  — ■  George  and  William  Freeman  had  a  partnership  project  in  market  gardening 
on  father's  large  farm.  Made  hotbed,  and  made  and  glazed  sash  for  it.  Made  cold 
frame  to  fit  storm  window-sash.  Wove  straw  mat  in  device  made  for  weaving  such  mats 
at  school.     First  hotbed  on  the  farm.     Brimfield  Agricultural  Department. 


course  at  the  college  in  the  winter 
of  the  senior  year  as  part  of  the  re- 
quirement for  graduation. 

This  school  has  an  equipment  of 
horses,  poultry,  swine,  and  bees.  It 
conducts  operations  with  these  ani- 
mals, and  also  in  vegetable  growing, 
ornamental  planting,  fruit  growing, 
forestry,  and  production  of  general 
farm  crops.  *  Particularly  noteworthy 
are  its  farm-shop  equipment  and  its 
arena  for  practical  demonstrations 
and  public  exhibitions, 
p 


as  everywhere,  on  the  projects 
of  the  individual  pupils,  and  these 
are  conducted,  almost  without  ex- 
ception, on  the  home  farms  of  the 
pupils  in  this  very  good  farming 
section.  Dealers  have  cooperated 
by  lending  tools  and  machines,  even 
including  a  power  sprayer  shipped 
from  a  distance  at  no  cost  to  the 
department. 

The  initial  enrollment  was  17.  No 
addition  to  the  academy  building  was 
required     and     no    additional    land. 


2IO 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


It  is  located  on  the  electric  car  line 
at  the  best  transportation  center  in 
Hampshire  County,  has  about  loo 
acres  of  land,  accommodates  about 
150  pupils,  of  whom  about  one-third 
are  agricultural,  and  has  cost,  for 
plant  and  equipment,  about  Si  10,000. 

b.  Bristol  County  Agricultural 
School,  Segreganset,  is  best  equipped 
with  live-stock  and  farm  tools  for 
general  farming  operations.  It  has 
a  herd  of  pure-bred  and  high-grade 
Ayrshire  cattle.     It  has  a  plank  frame 


The  initial  equipment  outlay  did  not 
exceed  $200. 


b.  Hadley.  —  The  department  in 
Hadley  is  located  in  Hopkins  Acad- 
emy, which  institution  serves  the 
town  as  a  high  school. 

The  academy  has  a  few  acres  of 
land    and    hired    a    small,    adjacent, 


Fig.  140.  —  .An  empty  wagon  but  a  full  pocket.  George  was  the  salesman,  —  "a  born 
salesman,"  his  instructor  said.  He  brought  home  $368.59  for  produce  grown  by 
William  and  himself.  Off  mare  worked  all  summer  and  raised  good  draft  colt  at  left. 
This  was  the  team  used  in  marketing.     Brimfield  .Agricultural  Department. 


storage  and  horse  barn  and  a  modern 
dairy  stable  with  silos  and  root  cellar 
connected. 

Besides  cows  and  horses,  it  has 
poultry,  swine,  and  bees.  It  con- 
ducts operations  with  these  various 
farm  animals ;  also,  general  farming 
operations,  including  vegetable  grow- 


rundown  orchard.  This  land  has  fur- 
nished opportunity  for  some  group 
instruction  in  gardening,  fruit  grow- 
ing, poultry-house  construction,  hot- 
bed making,  and  ornamental  planting. 
A  dilapidated  shed  has  been  repaired 
and  somewhat  remodeled  by  the  agri- 
cultural  pupils   for   a   storeroom   for 


MASSACHUSETTS  NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL  SYSTEM        21 1 


ing,  ornamental  planting,  fruit  grow- 
ing, and  forestry. 

This  school  is  located  within  a  few 
steps  of  an  electric  car  line.  The 
Segreganset  station  of  the  double- 
track  steam  railway  line  between 
Taunton  and  Fall  River  is  at  its  door. 


spraj'ing  apparatus  and  materials, 
mixing  of  commercial  fertilizers,  and 
the  like. 

Here,  again,  the  instruction  of  the 
pupils  is  centered  on  their  home  proj- 
ects. Conditions,  of  course,  are  fa- 
vorable, since    the    department  is  in 


Fig.  141.  —  "Yes,"  the  boys  said  they  had  bank  books.  One  said  he  had  accounts  in  two 
banks;  the  other,  in  three.  George  is  now  married  and  at  home  with  his  father. 
William  has  found  employment  elsewhere.  (See,  also,  Figures  139  and  140.)  Brimtield 
Agricultural  Department. 


It  has  about  100  acres  of  land,  its 
new  school  building  will  accommo- 
date 100  pupils,  and  it  has  cost,  for 
plant  and  equipment,  $80,000. 


one  of  the  most  fertile  parts  of  the 
Connecticut  valley.  Landowners 
near  have  cooperated.  Notable  in- 
stances have  been  the  employment  of 
pupils  for  pruning  and  spraying  fruit 
trees.  It  is  the  department  at  Had- 
ley  that  has  commonly  pruned  and 
sprayed  a  thousand  or  more  trees  in  a 
season.  Hopkins  .\cadcmy  is  about 
halfway  between  Smith  Agricultural 
School  and  the  Massachusetts  Agri- 
cultural College.  Pupils  participate 
in  the  notable  meetings  of  both  of 
these  institutions,  and  find  the 
illustrative  equipment,  including  all 
kinds  of  live-stock,  at  the  College 
even     more     convenient     of     access 


212 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


c.  Essex  County  Agricultural 
School,  at  first  in  makeshift  quarters, 
now  has  a  modern  vocational  school 
building. 

It  is  located  on  an  electric  car  line 
and  near  a  steam  railway  station  at  a 


than  do  the  pupils  of  the  Smith 
School. 

The  department  sometimes  draws 
pupils  from  neighboring  towns.  In 
the  main  the  department  serves  only 
the  town  of  Hadley. 

No  land  in  addition  to  that  pos- 
sessed by  the  Academy,  excepting  the 
leased  orchard  the  income  from  which 
will  offset  its  rental,  and  no  additional 
classroom  space  were  required  for  the 
establishment  of  the  agricultural 
department. 

It  has  had  an  enrollment  of  20 
pupils.  The  outlay  for  special  agri- 
cultural equipment,  including  the 
remodeling  and  repairing  of  the  shed, 
probably  has  not  exceeded  $300. 

c.  Reading.  —  The  department  at 
Reading  is  located  in  the  high  school 
building. 

The  high  school  has  no  land  for 
productive  purposes,  and  only  a 
limited  amount  of  lawn.    No  addition 


Fig.  142.  —  Bloom  and  Johanson  partnership  project  in  their  home  city  of  Lyun. 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORIMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM 


213 


point  readily  reached  from  all  parts 
of  the  county. 

Its  barns  were  once  used  for  a 
model  dairy  farm  with  special  facili- 
ties for  steam  sterilizing  of  utensils, 
cooling  and  bottling  milk.  Its  dairy- 
ing is  taught,  however,  chiefly  through 
home  projects  of  pupils  and  obser- 
vation of  high-bred  dairy  cattle  within 
easy  reach  of  the  school. 


to  the  high  school  was  necessary 
in  order  to  accommodate  the  agricul- 
tural department.  The  agricultural 
classroom  is  an  excellent  model  as  a 
combination  of  studj'  room  and  lab- 
oratory;  and  is  supplemented  by  a 
good  roorri  for  farm-shop  work. 

Here,  as  elsewhere,  instruction  is 
centered  upon  the  home  projects  of 
the  pupils.     Transportation  facilities 


.^ 


^i,'-:$>t*ts-. 


^  -  v.^ 


-■       >«tE--- *.-.*■ 


:^^ 


Fig.  143.  —  Visited  by  their  classmates.  Proud  to  show  their  project  and  to  explain  thtir 
methods.  Making  such  statements  as,  "Here  is  some  lettuce  we  put  in  .Aug.  ist. 
Before  that,  we  took  off  a  crop  of  beans  that  netted  us  S30."     Essex  County  School. 


Its  land  is  well  adapted  to  diversi- 
fied farming,  and  it  is  developing 
operations  in  vegetable  growing,  or- 
namental planting,  fruit  growing,  and 
forestry.  It  also  has  sheep,  swine, 
bees,  and  poultry.  Just  now  it  is 
conducting  a  noteworthy  egg-laying 
contest  in  model  buildings  erected  by 
the  pupils,  with  rations  and  care  which 
are  believed  to  be  most  economical 
and  efl&cient. 


are  excellent,  and  the  department 
serves  a  considerable  farming  and 
suburban  area.  Most  of  the  practice 
work  is  done  at  the  homes  of  the 
pupils.  Trips  of  observation  are 
made  to  well-equipped  farms.  Deal- 
ers cooperate  by  lending  various 
agricultural  appliances  for  observa- 
tion and  study.  This  department 
owns  ver)'  little  equipment  used  in 
productive    farm    work.      It    has   an 


214 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


It  has  about  loo  acres  of  land, 
before  the  war  accommodated  200 
pupils,  of  whom  170  were  agricultural, 
and  has  cost,  for  plant  and  equipment 
$185,000. 


d.   Norfolk     County     Agricultural 
School  has  not  completed  its  buildings 


exceptional  agricultural  laboratory 
equipment  and  has  been  assigned 
one  of  the  most  attractive  ground- 
floor  classrooms  in  the  building. 

The  enrollment  is  20,  and  the  ini- 
tial outlay  for  equipment  was  about 

Si ODD. 

d.  Concord,  —  The  department  at 
Concord  occupies  the  ground  floor  of 


EARNINGS  REPORT  FOR  THE  YEAR  1917,  Messrs.  Bloom  &  Johanaon 
of  the  Esses  County  Ap;rlcultural  School 

These  students  are  partners  in  Vegetable  Gardening,  Area  73,100  sq.  ft. 

Ages;  Ernest  Bloom,  18;  Roy  Johanson,  17. 

Time  covered  by  project;  Mar.  1  to  Nov.  1, 

Inventories: 

Beginning  of  Projeot  -------------|  17.50 

End  of  Project  -------------  -  183.75 

Paid  Selves  for  labor,  3,024  hours  at  15/  per  hour,  453.60 
of  which  $150.00  was  cash 

Expenditures  and  Receipts: 

Total  Expenses  (Inventory,  all  labor,  etc.)  1,027.28 
Total  Receipts  (    "    ,  prizes,  etc.)      1,327.75 

Net  Profit ■ 300.47 

Gross  Profit,  including  amount  paid  selves 

for  labor-  ----------  754.07. 

of  which  $150.00  was  cash,    as  above   stated. 

Chief  source   of  gain:   Tomatoes,    Beets,    Carrots. 
No   other  work  than  Farm  Work. 


Fig.   144.  —  Earnings  Report  for  the  Year  191 7  of  Bloom  and  Johanson.     Such  reports 
for  all  pupils  are  filed  annually  with  the  State  Supervisor  of  Agricultural  Education. 


and  equipment.  It  has  a  main 
school  building  of  modified  arena 
design,  and  a  special  poultry  building 
for  laboratory  and  other  class  instruc- 
tion. 

It  is  located  at  the  geographical 
center  of  the  county,  on  an  electric 
car  line,  on  the  main  automobile 
road  from  Boston  to  Providence,  and 
near  a  steam  railway  station. 


the  Ripley  Building,  a  two-story 
structure  adjacent  to  the  high  school 
grounds.  Besides  a  small  hallway, 
there  are  a  large  study  and  laboratory 
room,  a  smaller  study  room,  a  smaller 
laboratory  and  an  oflice. 

The  high  school  has  no  land  for 
tillage.  The  school  grounds  afford  a 
limited  amount  of  practice  work  in 
ornamental  planting. 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM        215 


I 


This  school  is  notable  for  having 
undertaken  to  keep  the  central 
school  small  and  to  support  it  at  dis- 
tant points  in  the  count}'  by  one- 
teacher  branches  in  high  schools. 
The   central  school   at   Walpole   and 


Concord  is  a  fertile  section  suited  to 
diversified  farming.  Market  garden- 
ing and  fruit  growing,  however,  pre- 
dominate. 

This  is  one  of  the  schools  that  has 
established     noteworthy     cooperative 


Fig.  145.  —  Two  "hired  men"  at  left.  Bloom  and  Johanson  in  center,  ilieir  agricultural 
instructor  at  right.  For  the  "story"  of  Bloom  and  Johanson,  see  pages  434  to  435. 
Essex  County  Agricultural  School. 


the  first  branch  at  Weymouth  were 
opened  simultaneously. 

Its  land,  about  forty  acres,  is  well 
diversified,  but  especiallj'  suited  to 
market  gardening,  fruit  growing,  and 
poultry  keeping.  It  has  horses  and 
small  animals.  The  outlay  for  plant 
and  equipment  has  been  about 
$80,000. 


arrangements  with  owners  of  green- 
houses for  practice  work  in  growing 
market-garden  crops  under  glass.  Ob- 
servation trips  are  made  to  other  types 
of  farms.  This  department  owns  con- 
siderable practical  farm  equipment, 
such  as  pruning  tools,  hand  sprayers, 
and  poultry  appliances.  Some  of  the 
best  home-project  work  in  the  state 
is  being  done  by  this  department. 

No  additional  land  or  classroom 
space  had  to  be  provided  by  the  high 
school  in  order  to  accommodate  this 
department. 

This  has  been  a   two-teacher  de- 


2l6  VOCATIONAL    AGRICULTURAL    EDUCATION 

partment,  the  enrollment  having  in- 
creased the  second  year  from  20  to  36. 
The  outlay  for  special  equipment, 
including  classroom  furniture,  prob- 
ably has  not  exceeded  S1500.  This 
amount  includes  the  cost  of  a  Ford 
touring  car  purchased  by  private 
subscriptions  collected  by  the  ad- 
visory committee  of  farmers  in  order 
that,  as  the  secretary  of  that  com- 
mittee said,  more  of  the  time  for  ad- 
^  visor\'  work,  which  had  been  found  to 

be  of  utmost  value,  might  be  "  spent 
on  farms  and  less  between  farms." 

6.    Courses  of  Study 

In  both  schools  and  departments,  one-half  the  school  day  is  devoted 
to  project  study  and  project  work.  The  ratio  of  work  to  study  varies 
from  time  to  time  and  from  season  to  season,  according  to  the  require- 
ments of  the  projects  which  are  in  preparation  or  under  way.  Except 
occasional  meetings,  there  is  no  formal  classroom  instruction  from 
the  time  of  closing  the  schools  in  June  until  their  opening  in 
September.  All  pupils,  however,  keep  accurate  bookkeeping  accounts 
and  make  written  reports  on  their  projects  at  the  end  of  the  season. 
Stimulated  by  frequent  supervision,  they  are  keen  eyed  and  observant, 
and,  in  some  ways,  the  summer,  when  class  work  is  suspended,  is  the 
most  important  teaching  season  of  the  year.  Department  pupils  are 
encouraged  to  continue  their  regular  high  school  studies  through  the 
entire  school  year,  from  September  to  June. 

Pupils  in  departments  of  high  schools  may  devote  one-half  of  their 
time  to  regular  high  school  subjects.  Pupils  in  the  separate  or  county 
schools  have  English  every  year,  and  give  attention  to  such  subjects 
as  history,  civics,  agricultural  economics,  drawing,  hygiene,  physical 
training,  and  music,  on  one  hand ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  to  a  con- 
tinuous line  of  development  in  scientific  studies,  such  as  biology  of 
farm  plants,  biology  of  farm  animals,  agricultural  botany,  agricultural 
chemistry,  and  farm  drawing.  Because  the  staff  of  the  separate  or 
county  school  is  selected  with  special  reference  to  the  purpose  of  this 


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Fig.  146.  — Russell  Balch  had  no  land  at  home.  His  "substitute"  fur  a  project  was  work 
for  a  successful  market  gardener  and  study  of  that  work.  Six  pages  of  his  carefully 
planned  and  kept  summer  notebook  are  above  shown.  He  intends  to  be  a  market  gar- 
dener and  was  eager  for  all  information  and  experience  he  could  get.  "Mr.  Davenport," 
who  called  June  6,  was  one  of  his  instructors.    Essex  County  .\gricultural  School. 

217 


2l8 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


type  of  school,  which  is  to  prepare  boys  for  farming,  all  subjects,  par- 
ticularly the  science  subjects  just  mentioned,  are  taught  so  as  to  show 
their  relationship  to  the  productive  work  the  boys  are  carrying  on  and 
their  bearing  upon  the  careers  the  boys  intend  to  follow.  Stated  in 
percentage,  the  separate  or  county  school  reserves  about  50  per  cent 
of  the  time  of  the  boys  for  project  study  and  project  work,  about  30 
per  cent  for  subjects  whose  relationships  to  agriculture  are  strongly 


Fig.  147.  —  Be  the  cash  crop  projects  what  they  may,  there  is  constant  exploration  of 
books  and  bulletins,  for  sound  and  usable  information  directly  bearing  upon  the  projects 
in  hand.     Essex  County  Agricultural  School. 


emphasized  and  clearly  brought  out,  and  about  20  per  cent  for  non- 
agricultural  subjects,  such  as  good  reading,  writing,  and  speaking, 
duties  of  citizenship,  and  wholesome  recreation. 

Pains  are  taken  in  the  separate  and  county  schools  to  keep  the 
training  of  the  agricultural  pupils  in  desirable  educational  balance. 
This  is  shown  by  the  diagram  on  page  264.  With  due  encouragement 
from  their  agricultural  instructors  to  devote  half  the  school  day  to 
well-chosen  high  school  studies,  a  desirable  balance,  as  shown  by  the 
diagram  on  page  265,  is  readily  achieved  in  the  education  of  pupils 
enrolled  in  agricultural  departments  of  high  schools. 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM        219 


The  courses  in  schools  and  departments  generally  cover  four 
years,  each  year  a  unit  complete  in  itself.  Various  adaptations 
to  the  needs  of  all-day  pupils  who  wish  to  specialize  instead  of 
taking  all  of  the  major  projects,  also  to  the  needs  of  "  part-time  '' 
pupils  in  day  classes  and  to  those  of  adults  in  "  evening  classes,"  are 
listed  below.     Assignment  of  projects  to  odd   and   even   years,    in 


Fig.  148.  ^  Also,  there  is  continuous  "related  study"  in  laboratory  exercises.  Test  for 
comparative  rapidity  with  which  water  percolates  through  different  types  of  soil.  Water 
is  of  paramount  importance  in  market  gardening.     Concord  .Agricultural  Department. 

the  case  of  the  high  school  department,  is  for  the  purpose  of  enabling 
the  one-teacher  department  to  divide  its  agricultural  pupils  in  the 
four  years'  course  into  two  groups  of  about  ten  each.  This  plan  en- 
ables the  teacher  to  devote  a  full  half  of  the  school  day  to  each  group, 
and  to  cover  the  entire  course  without  himself  teaching  projects 
in  more  than  two  fields  in  any  one  year. 


(i)  County  school 
A.    Agricultural.  —  The  four  years 
of  agricultural  training  of  the  school 


(2)  High  school  department 

A.    Agricultural.  —  For   a   depart- 
ment, the    four  years  of  agricultural 


2  20 


VOCATION.\L   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


have  been  shown  in  diagrammatic 
form  in  Figs.  60,  99,  127,  and  183.  In- 
struction in  the  work  of  each  year  is, 
as  a  rule,  given  every  year. 

The  plan  of  alternation  followed  in 
the  department  with  one  agricultural 
teacher  may  be  adopted  temporarily 
by  a  school,  if  its  enrollment  is  small, 
as  may  happen  when  a  school  is  first 
opened. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  instruc- 
tion from  the  first  year  to  the  fourth 
is  graded  up  on  the  scale  of  the  eco- 
nomic risks  involved  in  the  projects. 
Projects  which  involve  the  smallest 
risks  are  taught  in  the  first  year; 
those  which  involve  the  heaviest,  in 
the  last  year;  and  those  involving 
intermediate  risks  are  assigned  to  the 
second  and  third  years. 

With  a  staff  of  specialists  it  is  possi- 
ble to  adapt  courses  to  the  needs  of 
pupils  who  desire  to  specialize.  Gen- 
erally pupils  cover  most  of  the  four 
years'  course  ;  but  a  plan  of  major  and 
minor  projects  is  permissible,  by 
which  the  greater  part  of  the  time  of 
the  pupil  may  be  devoted  in  any  given 
year  to  the  projects  which  will  be  most 
helpful  to  him  in  the  branch  of  farm- 
ing chosen  for  his  career.  For  ex- 
ample, dairying  may  be  omitted  al- 
together in  the  last  two  3'ears,  market 
gardening  may  be  the  major  project 
occupying  three-fifths  of  the  time  set 
apart  for  project  instruction,  and  fruit 
growing  may  occupy'  the  remainder 
of  the  project  time.  Or  market  gar- 
dening may  be  omitted,  dairying  may 
occupy  three-fifths  of  the  time  set 
apart  for  the  study  of  projects,  and 
the  remainder  of  the  project  time  may 
be  devoted  to  fruit  growing,  continu- 


training  outlined  for  a  school  require 
adaptation  such  as  that  suggested 
in  Figs.  47  and  48  above.  Each  pupil 
may  devote  one-half  his  school  time 
to  agriculture.  Pupils  in  a  four 
years'  course  in  a  department  can  be 
taught  by  one  agricultural  instructor 
only  by  a  plan  which  enables  them  to 
be  taught  in  two  separate  groups. 

Accordingly,  courses  are  offered  in 
alternate  years  so  that  at  no  time  is 
an  instructor  carrying  more  than 
the  work  of  two  different  years.  In 
Figs.  47  and  48  the  diagrams  show 
the  assignment  of  courses  by  odd  and 
even  years,  and  presuppose  the 
grouping  of  the  younger  pupils  of  the 
first  and  second  years  in  one  class, 
and  the  older  pupils  of  the  third  and 
fourth  years  in  another  class. 

Less  latitude  in  offering  instruc- 
tion in  major  and  minor  projects  is 
found  in  a  department  than  is  prac- 
ticable for  a  school.  A  certain 
amount  of  specialization  is,  neverthe- 
less, possible  where  the  farming  of  a 
locality  is  itself  highly  specialized,  as, 
for  example,  bj-  omitting  dairying  in 
favor  of  market  gardening,  or  vice 
versa. 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL  SYSTEM        221 


222 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


ance  of  a  poultry  project  begun  in  a 
previous  year,  continuance  of  a  pre- 
viously studied  swine-raising  project, 
or  continuance  of  a  bee  project.  The 
foregoing  do  not  exhaust,  but  merely 
illustrate,  the  variations  by  which  a 
four  years'  course  may  be  adapted  to 
the  career  needs  of  individual  pupils. 

Following,  for  the  sake  of  clearness,  will  be  found  a  more  detailed 
statement,  by  years,  of  the  distinctively  agricultural  instruction : 


(A)  For  first-year  pupils.  All 
years.  —  Eighty  per  cent  of  the 
pupil's  time. 

Agricultural  science  and  projects 
applied  to  a  given  community. 

a.   Plant  projects  (elementary). 

(a)  Kitchen-gardening  projects 
(major).  —  Vegetable  and  small  fruit 
growing. 


(A)  For  first  and  second  year 
pupils.  In  even  years.  —  Fifty  per 
cent  of  the  pupil's  time. 

Agricultural  science  and  projects 
applied  to  a  given  community. 

a.  Plant  projects  (elementary) 
(School  years  ending  1916,  191S,  etc.). 

(a)  Kitchen-gardening  projects 
(major).  —  Vegetable  and  small 
fruit  growing. 


Fig.  150.  —  Director  ]•".  .A.  Smith  oi  Essex  County  Agricultural  School  dcN-eloped  these 
plantations.  Low-down,  handy  orchard  wagon.  Note  crossed  reaches.  Rear  axle  on 
circle,  like  front,  swings  away  from  tree  when  short  turn  is  made.  Picking  basket  lined 
with  burlap.     Turner  Hill  Farm. . 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM        223 


(b)  Ornamental-planting  projects 
(minor).  —  Caring  for  shrubbery, 
flowering  plants,  and  lawns. 

Home  projects  are  the  central  con- 
cern of  the  school  as  of  the  depart- 
ment, in  connection  with  the  two 
kinds  of  projects  above  mentioned. 

Pupils  with  no  home  land,  or  a 
small  amount,  may  be  provided  land 
for  individual  projects  at  the  school. 

Projects  of  the  school  itself  illus- 
trate  good   methods  for   both   adult 


(b)  Ornamental-planting  projects 
(minor).  —  Caring  for  shrubbery, 
flowering  plants,  and  lawns. 

Properly  conducted,  the  projects 
are  forced  into  commercial  conditions. 
Realities  are  dealt  with.  Home  proj- 
ects predominate.  No  boys  and  no 
instructors  are  used  on  school  projects 
and  no  capital  is  tied  up  in  them. 

Most  communities  have  good  ex- 
amples, for  purposes  of  observation, 
of  plant  projects  of  the  various  kinds 


Fig.  151.  —  Director  Smith's  hoyi  haxc  dc\  eloped  a  nursery  at  the  Essex  County  .Agricul- 
tural School,  but  have  access  also  to  this  on  Turner  Hill  Farm.  Two  years  old  ready 
for  planting.  Note  cover  crop,  barley  and  oats,  sown  three  bushels  per  acre  on  Aug. 
25th.  1 2,000  pounds  to  acre  of  green  vegetable  matter  grown  in  a  season.  Berry  planta- 
tions similarly  cover-cropped. 


farmers  and  [)upils.  The  distance 
from  the  classroom  to  the  illustrative 
project  may  be  shorter  in  a  school 
than  in  a  department.  School  proj- 
ects, moreover,  afford  convenient 
opportunities    for    group    instruction 


dealt  with  in  the  projects  of  the  pupils. 
Most  communities  furnish  some  op- 
portunity for  group  instruction  in 
preparation  for  projects  of  the  two 
kinds  above  mentioned.  .\ny  home 
with  land  about  it  will  be  the  better 


224 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


of  pupils  in  both  observation  and 
practice  work.  Their  nearness  to  the 
classroom  is  a  strong  advantage  in 
time-saving.  It  is  confessedly  diffi- 
cult to  give  school  projects  the  push 
and  reality  of  the  enterprise  of  the 
farmer  who  is  depending  upon  his 
production  for  his  living.  Whilg  the 
school,  therefore,  may  gain  in  con- 
venience of  access  to  projects  for  ob- 
servation and  practice  work,  it  may 


for  a  good  garden  and  a  good  lawn. 
Where  the  home  land  is  not  sufficient 
for  the  full  employment  of  a  pupil  on 
home  projects,  he  finds  other  land 
near,  or  finds  employment  on  ap- 
proved farms  in  his  vicinity.  The 
project  and  other  farm  earnings  of 
pupils  in  departments  compare  favor- 
ably with  those  of  pupils  in  schools. 

More  time  may  sometimes  be  re- 
quired to  go  from  a  department  to  an 


Fig.  152.  —  Other  cover  crops  valued  by  Director  Smith  are  cow-horn  turnips  and  dwarf 
Essex  rape.     One  of  young  orchards  on  Turner  Hill  Farm.     Note  good  "  air  drainage." 


lose  something  of  the  vitalizing  con- 
tact with  the  farmer's  enterprise 
which  the  department  affords  its 
pupils.  Where  school  projects  are 
made  to  approximate  most  nearly  the 
commercial  t\'pe,  they  afford  facilities 
for  drilling  pupils  unused  to  farm 
work  in  oft-repeated  operations,  until 
the  requisite  skill  and  speed  have 
been  attained. 


illustrative  project,  or  to  a  farm  for 
group  instruction,  than  is  required  to 
pass  from  schoolroom  to  field  at  a 
school.  This  is  largely  offset,  how- 
ever, by  the  nearness  of  the  depart- 
ment to  the  homes  of  the  pupils.  The 
greater  amount  of  time  occasionally 
required  in  getting  from  a  depart- 
ment to  a  farm  may  be  more  than 
offset  by  the  lesser  time  required  for 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL  SYSTEM        225 


Trial  projects  may  be  carried  out 
by  a  school,  thus  affording  pupils  a 
convenient  opportunity  to  work  with 
plants  or  animals  not  commonly 
produced    in     the    vicinity,    and     to 


travel  day  by  day  on  the  road  to  and 
from  school.  There  have  been  no- 
table instances  of  practice  work,  on 
farms  where  pupils  have  been  in- 
spired by  their  surroundings,   where 


Fig.  153.  —  Dwarf  Wagener  six  years  old.  Fruit  thinned,  but  shows  need  of  further  thin- 
ning. For  size  of  fruit,  compare  Director  Smith's  watch  in  tree.  For  low  heading, 
compare  height  of  head  as  measured  by  hat.  Dwarf  trees  used  as  "fillers,"  until  per- 
manent trees  require  the  ground . 


observe  their  adaptability  to  local 
conditions.  A  school  wdth  illustrative 
and  trial  projects  in  progress  need  not 
ask  anybody's  permission,  but  may 
enter  any  part  of  its  own  premises 
with  its  classes  at  will. 

.\11  of  the  foregoing  give  a  school 
advantage  over  a  department  in  econ- 
Q 


their  skill  has  been  enhanced  and 
their  operative  speed  much  increased. 
The  independent  project  of  the 
pupil,  with  frequent  supervision  by 
the  instructor,  generally  more  than 
offsets  any  limitation  of  opportunity 
for  group  instruction  due  to  the  lack 
of  land  at  a  high  school. 


226 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTUR.\L   EDUCATION 


omizing  time  and  travel  of  both  in- 
structors and  pupils  during  school 
hours. 

•  The  school  grounds  maj'  be  more  or 
less  extensive.  They  need  to  be  kept 
in  order.  A  school  with  a  large  en- 
rollment may  employ  a  specialist  in 


Home  projects  rarelj-  occupy  more 
than  half  the  working  time  of  the 
pupils.  Generally,  supplementary 
farm  practice  for  which  they  are  paid 
cash  or  allowed  credit  in  lieu  of  cash, 
at  the  rates  prevailing  in  their  local- 
ities for  boys  of  their  ages,  varying 


Fig.  154.  —  Ontario,  eight  years  uld.  bearing  42  bushels.  Note  Director  Smith's  low-headed 
standard  apple-trees.  Woman  picker  straightened  up  one  day  and  told  him  she  ob- 
jected to  stooping  over  to  pick  apples. 


landscape  gardening.  In  such  a  case, 
the  school  premises  offer  excellent 
opportunity  for  specialization  to  the 
pupil  who  has  chosen  landscape  gar- 
dening for  his  career. 

Boys  who  require  land  at  a  school 
for  projects  are  the  exception.  In  the 
few  such  cases  that  occur,  the  individ- 
ual projects  of  the  pupils  are  limited 


sizes,  degrees  of  skill  and  dependabil- 
ity, is  found  on  their  home  farms  or 
on  farms  near  by. 

The  instructors  lead  their  pupils 
from  time  to  time  in  their  work,  thus 
teaching  them  the  handiest  ways  of 
doing  things,  and  setting  them  a 
proper  pace.  They  do  not  merely 
inspect  and  mark. 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL  SYSTEM        227 


so  as  not  to  require  more  than  half  of 
the  working  time  of  the  pupil  during 
the  producing  season.  Their  work  on 
their  projects  is  supplemented  by 
work  for  pay  on  the  illustrative  or 
trial  projects  of  the  school.  The  rate 
of  pay  is  determined  by  the  skill  of 
the  pupil,  the  rate  being  advanced  as 
his  skill  improves. 

The  instructors  participate  in  the 
work  of  the  school  projects  in  connec- 
tion with  which  their  pupils  are 
taught.  They  show  the  boys  how  to 
do  things  in  the  best  way  and  set  the 
pace.  They  are  leaders,  not  merely 
overseers. 

fc)  Subprojects  in  farm-shop 
work.  —  Making  and  repairing,  for 
home  and  school  use,  hotbeds,  cold- 
frames,  etc. 

The  paraphernalia  of  the  school 
farm  offers  an  exceptional  range,  in 
the  form  of  repairs  and  additions  to 
buildings  and  equipment,  for  group 
instruction  in  farm-shop  work. 

A  school  with  a  large  enrollment 
may  employ  a  special  farm-shop  in- 
structor. The  school  should  have  a 
marked  advantage  over  the  depart- 
ment in  the  execution  of  projects  in 
farm-shop  work  on  easily  portable 
farm  ecjuipment. 


b.  Related  study.  —  The  tend- 
ency of  the  project  instructors  in  a 
school  is  to  deal  with  the  most  prac- 
tical aspects  of  the  training  of  their 


'^c)  Subprojects  in  farm-shop 
work.  —  Making  and  repairing,  for 
home  and  school  use,  hotbeds,  cold- 
fra'mes,  etc. 

In  some  departments  most  of  the 
projects  in  farm-shop  work  are  carried 
out  in  the  winter  during  the  special 
agricultural  instructor's  vacation,  and 
are  taught  by  the  manual  training 
teacher,  or  by  a  foreman  carpenter 
who  has  a  slack  season  in  winter.  In 
such  cases  the  projects  are  planned 
by  the  pupils  and  approved  in  ad- 
vance by  the  agricultural  instructor. 

In  other  cases  the  agricultural  in- 
structors themselves  teach  their  boys 
all  necessary  projects  in  farm-shop 
work. 

The  success  of  this  part  of  the 
training  of  the  pupils  depends,  in  no 
small  degree,  upon  the  mechanical 
skill  and  ingenuity  of  the  agricultural 
instructor. 

b.  Related  study.  —  Planning  the 
above  projects  involves  a  study  of  the 
biology  of  plants,  including  consid- 
erable agricultural  botany ;    soils  and 


228 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTUR.\L   EDUCATION 


pupils,  in  the  planning  of  projects,  in 
the  group  instruction  necessary  for 
giving  the  pupils  skill  and  speed  in 
the  various  manipulative  processes, 
and  in  the  supervision  of  their  pupils 
in  the  carrying  out  of  the  projects. 


their  amendments,  and  plant  foods; 
injurious  insects  and  their  control; 
implements  and  their  uses. 

The  project  instructors  deal  with 
the  various  sciences  only  so  far  as 
they  have  something  which  may  be 


Fig.  155.  —  Point-blank  ihul  at  young  Rhodi;  Isldml  GruL-ning.  Xote  spray  on  foliage  and 
faultless  fruit.  Director  Smith  believes  that  selected  stock  pays  in  trees  no  less  than 
in  live-stock.  He  buds  imported  seedlings  with  buds  from  young  bearing  trees  of  the 
finest  type. 


To  the  extent  that  they  go  beyond 
such  instruction,  their  teaching  gen- 
erally has  to  do  with  a  historical  and 
descriptive  background  by  which 
the  pupil  may  see  his  practical  opera- 
tions in  relation  to  the  practical  opera- 
tions of  others.  "  Agricultural  sur- 
vey "  is  the  name  given  this  back- 


made  to  contribute  to  the  under- 
standing or  efficiency  of  the  projects. 
In  a  department  it  is  generally 
necessary  for  the  agricultural  in- 
structor himself  to  search  out  and 
teach  most  of  the  correlations  of  the 
various  sciences  with  agriculture  re- 
quired for  an   understanding  by  his 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM        229 


ground  instruction  in  chapter  HI,  and 
its  relation  to  the  greater  part  of  the 
project  instructor's  teaching  is  shown 
on  pages  73,  74,  and  75,  in  Figs.  57,  58, 
and  59.  The  diagrams  referred  to 
are  equally  applicable  to  depart- 
ment and  county  school  schedules. 

Planning  the  above  projects,  how- 
ever, involves  a  study  of  the  biology 
of  plants,  including  considerable  agri- 
cultural   botany ;       soils    and    their 


pupils  of  their  projects.  He  gives  no 
attention  to  the  teaching  of  any 
science  as  such.  All  of  his  teaching 
of  botany,  chemistry,  physics,  biol- 
ogy, mathematics,  and  accounting  is 
confined  to  their  applications  to  the 
projects  of  his  pupils  and  the  requisite 
skill  and  speed  of  his  pupils  in  work- 
ing out  those  applications. 

That  is  to  say,  the  project  instruc- 
tor tends  to  divide  his  teaching  into 


Fig.  156.  —  Dwarf  Mcintosh,  seven  years  old.  Third  time  fruiting.  Mcintosh  widely 
planted  in  New  England.  Note  size  of  fruit  compared  with  watch  in  center.  Director 
Smith  used  buds  from  this  in  nursery  propagation  at  Turner  Hill  Farm. 


amendments,    and    plant    foods    and 

feeding;    injurious  insects  and    their 

control;     implements  and  their  uses. 

As  a  rule,  the  project  instructors 


two  more  or  less  unequal  parts. 
Generally,  the  larger  part  is  devoted 
to  the  training  of  his  pupils  in  the 
more  practical  aspects  of  their  proj- 


230 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


control  one-half  of  the  time  of  the 
pupils.  Other  teachers  are  in  fre- 
quent conference  with  the  project 
teachers,  with  a  view  to  devising  ways 
and  means  by  which  the  closest  corre- 
lation may  be  brought  about  between 
their  instruction  and  the  practical 
activities  of  the  pupils.  The  full  30 
per  cent  of  the  time  allotted  to  the 
teachers  of  science  and  of  other  related 
subjects  —  such  as    farm    arithmetic 


ects,  and  in  giving  them  a  historical 
background  for  understanding  them. 
The  other  is  devoted  to  excursions  by 
his  pupils  into  selected  sciences  and 
other  fields  of  knowledge  for  relatable 
facts  and  principles.  . 

Team  work  between  the  special 
agricultural  instructor  and  the  teacher 
or  teachers  of  science  and  other  sub- 
jects in  the  high  school  cannot  be 
counted    upon.       There    have    been 


Fig.  157.  — First  prize  box  of  Mcintosh,  grown  and  exhibited  at  Massachusetts  Fruit 
Show  by  Mr.  F.  A.  Smith,  then  in  charge  of  Turner  Hill  Farm,  now  Director  of  Essex 
County  Agricultural  School.  Men  who  themselves  have  done  and  can  do  what  they  are 
expected  to  teach,,  are  demanded  in  vocational  agricultural  education  in  Massachusetts. 


and  accounts,  farm  drawing  and  shop 
work,  farm  journal  reading,  biology 
of  plants,  botany  and  entomology  — 
is  agricultural. 

Laboratory  space  and  apparatus 
are  chosen  or  arranged  primarily  be- 
cause of  their  adaptability  to  teaching 
the  correlations  of  science  and  other 
subjects  with  agriculture.. 

The  project  instructors,  because  of 
this  division  of  labor,  are  freer  in  a 


encouraging  instances  of  it ;  and 
there  is  to-day  a  tendency  in  all  teach- 
ing toward  correlating  instruction 
with  the  environment  of  the  pupil, 
which  in  the  case  of  a  rural  high  school 
with  an  agricultural  department 
ought  to  make  team  work  easy.  Few 
distinctively  agricultural  pieces  of 
apparatus  are  to  be  found  in  the 
science  laboratories  of  high  schools. 
A  fair  statement,  therefore,  of  the  pre- 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY  SCHOOL   SYSTEM 


231 


school  than  in  a  department  to  re- 
strict their  teaching  to  the  economic 
and  skill-producing  features  of  the 
projects. 


vailing  conditions  hardly  warrants 
describing  the  training  of  agricultural 
pupils  in  high  schools  as  being  more 
than  50  per  cent  agricultural. 


All  projects  are  carefully  cost-accounted 
Written  records  are  kept  of  all 


(B)  For  second-year  pupils.  All 
years.  —  Eighty  per  cent  of  the 
pupil's  time. 

Agricultural  science  and  projects 
applied  to  a  given  community. 


(B)  For  second  and  first  year 
pupils,  in  odd  years.  —  Fifty  per  cent 
of  the  pupil's  time. 

Agricultural  science  and  projects 
applied  to  a  given  community. 


Fig.  15S.  —  Snow  of  MarbkliLad,  iS,  had  no  fruil  trees  at  home.  Hired  this  orchard  for 
third-and  fourth-year  project.  Pruned,  sprayed,  and  cultivated.  Owner  pleased.  Boy 
satisfied.     Essex  County  Agricultural  School. 


a.   Animal  projects  (elementary). 

(a)  Small  animal  projects.  —  Poul- 
try, sheep,  swine,  bees,  —  types, 
breeding,  management,  rations,  etc. 


a.  Animal  projects  (elementary) 
(School  years  ending  1915,  1917, 
etc.). 

(a)  Small  animal  projects.  —  Poul- 
try,    sheep,     swine,     bees,  —  types, 
Generally,  opportunity  is  given  for       breeding,  management,  rations,  etc. 


232 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


carrying  major  and  minor  projects,  - — 
for  example,  a  major  in  poultry  and  a 
minor  in  swine  or  bee  keeping.  Illus- 
trative school  projects  are  convenient 
for  practice  work  in  group  instruction. 
They  are  subject  to  the  limitations  of 
school  projects,  as  compared  with  the 
economic  projects  on  the  better  farms. 
There  may  be  a  tendency  to  depend 


Generally,  opportunity  is  given  for 
carrying  major  and  minor  projects,  — 
for  example,  a  major  in  poultry  and  a 
minor  in  swine  or  bee  keeping. 

All  instruction  is  subject  to  the 
realities  of  home  and  commercial 
conditions. 

The  community  generally  furnishes 
a  large   range  of   illustrative  projects 


1  iG.  i5y.  —  AluUQls  >huwing  guud  and  bud  culs  in  jj.uniag.  Close,  smooth  cuts  at  extreniL' 
right  have  healed.  Other  cuts  have  not  healed.  Note  decay.  Such  mounts  are  per- 
manently useful  for  classroom  instruction.     Concord  Agricultural  Department. 


upon  them  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
study  of  methods  and  practice  work 
under  strictly  economic  conditions. 
School  projects  make  the  instructors 
independent  of  neighboring  farmers. 
The  danger  is  that  they  may  become 
too  independent,  —  that  the  problems 
studied  by  the  pupils  will  be  problems 
of  the  school,  rather  than  economic 
problems  of  the  profitable  farm. 

(b)  Subprojects  in  farm-shop 
work  are  recjuired  for  repairing,  alter- 
ing, or  constructing  the  necessary 
buildings  and  equipment  for  the 
above  small  animal  projects.  The 
study  includes  plans,  kinds  and  cost 
of  materials,  etc. 

(c)  Subprojects  are  also  required 
in  home-grown  crops  for  the  small 
animals.  —  Some  of  these  crops  may 
be  raised  for  sale  as  an  offset  to  feeds 


and     some     opportunity    for     group 
instruction. 


(b)  Subprojects  in  farm-shop 
work  are  required  for  repairing,  alter- 
ing, or  constructing  the  necessary 
buildings  and  equipment.  The  study 
includes  plans,  kinds  and  cost  of  ma- 
terials, etc. 

(c)  Subprojects  are  also  required 
in  home-grown  crops  for  the  small 
animals.  —  Some  of  these  crops  may 
be  raised  for  sale  as  an  ofifset  to  feeds 
and    supplies    bought.     Kitchen-gar- 


MASSACHUSETTS   NQ-DORMITORY  SCHOOL  SYSTEM        233 


and  supplies  bought.  Kitchen-gar- 
dening projects  previously  studied 
may  be  continued  in  lieu  of  special 
cash  crops.  Other  crops  may  be 
grown  for  feeding. 

(d)  Substitutes  for  home  projects. 
—  The  pupils  without  facilities  at 
home  may  be  provided  opportunity 
for  individual  projects  at  the  school, 
and  may  devote  part  time  to  work  for 


dening  projects  previously  studied 
may  be  continued  in  lieu  of  special 
cash  crops.  Other  crops  may  be 
grown  for  feeding. 

(d)  Substitutes  for  home  projects 
with  small  animals  may  be  offered  by 
boys  who  have  no  opportunity  for  such 
projects  at  home,  and  may  consist  of 
employment  on  approved  farms  where 
the  small  animals  studied  are  kept. 


Fig.  160.  —  Varieties  of  apples  identified,  and  compared  for  quality.  Cut  lengthwise  and 
across  through  the  core.  Drawings  of  cross-sections  made.  Boy  standing,  son  of  one 
of  largest  market  gardeners  in  Eastern  Massachusetts.  Has  both  garden  and  fruit 
projects  at  home.  Only  most  desirable  varieties  should  be  grown.  Concord  Agricul- 
tural Department. 


pay  on  illustrative  and  trial  projects 
with  small  animals,  and  subprojects 
connected  therewith,  conducted  by 
the  school  itself. 

As  in  the  case  of  plant  projects, 
small  animal  projects  seldom  occupy 
the  entire  working  time  of  the  pupil. 
Most  of  the  pupils  find  supplementary 
farm  work  at  home,  on  farms  nearby, 
or  at  the  school. 


The  neighborhood  generally  af- 
fords excellent  illustrative  projects 
for  purposes  of  observation  and  some 
opportunity  for  group  instruction. 
It  is  seldom  that  a  pupil  has  no  con- 
veniences at  home  for  at  least  projects 
of  the  first  and  second  years. 

Small  animal  projects  seldom  oc- 
cupy the  entire  working  time  of  the 
pupil.  Most  of  the  pupils  find  supple- 
mentary work  at  home  or  on  farms 
near. 


234 


VOCATIOI^^AL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


All  projects  are  carefully  cost-accounted 
Written  records  are  kept  of  all 


b.  Related  study.  —  The  tendency 
to  division  of  labor  between  other 
teachers  and  project  instructors, 
noted  in  connection  with  the  teaching 
of  plant-project  pupils,  is  equally 
pronounced   in   connection   with   the 


b.  Related  study.  —  Planning  any 
of  the  above  projects  involves  a  study 
of  the  biology  of  animals,  including 
problems  of  hygiene,  sanitation, 
breeds  and  breeding,  feeds  and  feed- 
ing, buildings  and  equipment,  —  kinds, 


Fig.  i6i.  —  Fruit  propagaliuii.  Root  stocks  grafted  with  Baldwin  and  Mcintosh  scions. 
Set  in  nursery  rows.  Transplanted,  year  to  year.  "Related  Study'  botany  unit  on 
"cambium  layer."     Smith  School,  Northampton. 


teaching  of  pupils  with  small  animal 
projects. 

Planning  any  of  the  above  projects 
involves  a  study  of  the  biology  of  ani- 
mals, including  problems  of  hygiene, 
sanitation,  breeds  and  breeding,  feeds 
and  feeding,  buildings  and  equipment, 
—  kinds,  cost,  plans,  etc.  The  sub- 
projects  in  cropping  involve  a  study  of 


cost,  plans,  etc.  The  subprojects 
in  cropping  involve  a  study  of  kinds, 
quantities,  seeds,  soils,  place  in  farm- 
crop  rotation,  fertilizing,  tillage,  har- 
vesting, and  storage. 

As  in  the  case  of  gardening  and 
ornamental  planting,  the  project 
instructors  deal  with  the  various 
sciences    related    to    the    keeping    of 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM        235 


kinds,  quantities,  seeds,  soils,  place 
in  farm-crop  rotation,  fertilizing,  til- 
lage, harvesting,  and  storage. 

There  are  important  contributions 
to  be  had  from  the  sciences  of  chemis- 
try and  physics  to  the  understanding 


small  animals  only  so  far  as  they  have 
something  which  may  be  made  to 
contribute  to  the  understanding  of  the 
projects  or  their  efficient  execution. 

Moreover,  just  as  in  the  teaching  of 
plant-project    pupils    in    even   years, 


Fig.  162.  —  Propagation  by  lop-woiking.  Jack  Kt-r.-hii.^  ildi/  a.1.1  Ralph  Hibbard  graft- 
ing a  young  apple  tree  of  unknown  variety  with  scions  of  variety  known  to  be  good. 
Jack  first  at  public  prize  speaking,  tirst  prize  winner  in  stock  judging,  and  crack  base- 
ball pitcher  of  school  nine.  Such  Polish  boys  an  honor  to  old  Connecticut  Valley. 
Hadley  Agricultural  Department. 


of  small  animal  projects.  This  ap- 
plies particularly  to  the  working  out 
of  the  problems  of  feeding  and  of  arti- 
ficial incubating  and  brooding.  Some- 
times a  veterinarian  is  employed  for 
special  instruction  in  prevention  or 
treatment  of  small  animal  diseases. 
In  the  absence  of  such  a  specialist,  the 
project  instructor  himself  undertakes 
to  train  his  boys  in  such  elements  of 
veterinary    science    as    will    prepare 


so  in  odd  years  the  agricultural  in- 
structor will  generally  find  it  neces- 
sary to  search  out  for  himself  and  to 
teach  most  of  the  correlations  of 
biology,  chemistry,  physics,  and 
veterinary  science  required  by  his 
pupils  for  the  proper  understanding 
and  successful  execution  of  their 
small  animal  projects  and  their  sub- 
projects  in  crop  growing.  He  will, 
also,    generally    find   it   necessary   to 


236 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


them  for  the  prevention  of  disease  or 
its  prompt  detection,  quarantine,  or 
cure.  Appropriate  farm  journals, 
bulletins,  and  books  are  read  or 
studied. 

As  in  the   first  year,   the  project 
instructor  ought  to  be  more  free  in  a 


teach  the  drawing,  estimating  of 
costs,  etc.,  required  by  the  subproj- 
ects  in  farm-shop  work. 

Of  course,  here,  as  elsewhere,  the 
agricultural  instructor  will  do  his 
utmost  to  make  the  teachers  of  chem- 
istry,  physics,   biology,  English,  and 


Fig.  163.  —  "School  project."  Renovation  of  land.  Buckwheat  kills  weeds  and  furnishes 
mass  to  plow  under  for  humus.  Taught  as  particularly  valuable  in  preparing  rough  land 
for  orcharding.     Essex  County  .Agricultural  School. 


school  than  in  a  department  to  restrict 
his  teaching  to  the  economic  and  skill- 
producing  features  of  the  projects  of 
his  pupils. 


mathematics  in  the  high  school  ac- 
quainted with  the  problems  involved 
in  the  projects  of  his  pupils,  and  to 
assist  them  in  efforts  to  correlate 
their  instruction  with  the  practical 
activities  of  the  agricultural  pupils. 
Success  of  such  efforts  in  connection 
with  small  animal  projects  will  prob- 
ably continue  to  be  as  variable  as 
success  in  efforts  to  bring  about  corre- 
lation between  teaching  of  other  high 
school  subjects  and  plant  projects. 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL  SYSTEM        237 


(C)  For  third-year  pupils.  All 
years.  —  Eighty  per  cent  of  the 
pupil's  time. 


It  is  not  safe  to  assume  at  present 
that  much  over  50  per  cent  of  the 
teaching  of  the  agricultural  pupils  in 
high  school  departments  can  be  re- 
garded as  distinctively  agricultural. 

(C)  For  third  and  fourth  year 
pupils.  In  even  years.  —  Fifty  per 
cent  of  the  pupil's  time. 


mii^i' 


w  : 


^*  ^  'ir       A*.'"  ■^''     -'4.'"'*^' 


Fig.  164.  —  Clarence  x\lmquist  at  school.  "Related  Study"  of  school  project.  Cash  crop 
has  been  followed  by  cover  crop  of  rape  and  crimson  clover,  "to  keep  land  busy." 
Will  be  plowed  under  in  spring  for  "green  manure."  Boy  has  several  projects  at  home. 
Petersham  Agricultural  Department. 


Agricultural  science   and   ()roj'ects 
applied  to  a  given  community. 
a.   Plant  projects  (advanced). 


-Agricultural  science  and  projects 
applied  to  a  given  community. 

a.  Animal  projects  (advanced) 
(School  years  ending  1916,  1918, 
etc.) 


238 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


(a)  Fruit-growing  projects.  —  Or- 
charding and  small  fruit  growing 
not  before  dealt  with,  soils,  fertilizers, 
cover  crops,  sprays,  propagating,  cul- 
tivating, picking,  grading,  packing, 
storing,  marketing,  etc. 

(b)  Market-gardening  projects.  — 
Soils,  seeds,  fertilizers,  tillage,  har- 
vesting, storing,  marketing,  etc. 

The  major  projects  ma-y  be  fruit 
growing,  and  the  minor,  market  gar- 
dening, or  vice  versa. 

For  the  village  and  city  boy,  the 
illustrative  and  trial  projects  of  a 
school  are  a  marked  advantage  in 
connection  with  such  long-time  proj- 
ects as  orcharding  and  such  big-scale 
projects  as  market  gardening. 

What  has  been  said  previously 
about  convenience  of  access  and  inde- 
pendent control  by  the  school  of  proj- 
ects on  the  school  premises  for  obser- 
vation and  practice  work  applies 
equally  here.  Many  boys  may  be 
able  to  make  adequate  provision  at 
home  for  first  and  second  year  proj- 
ects. A  lesser  number  will  be  able  to 
make  provision  at  home  for  projects 
of  the  third  and  fourth  years.  Herein 
is  an  important  justification  of  the 
possession  of  a  farm  and  its  operation 
by  a  school. 

The  combination  of  market  gar- 
dening, or  the  growing  of  cash  crops, 
with  fruit  growing  is  desirable.  Fruit 
growing  generally  is  a  long-time  de- 
velopment project.  This  is  true  if  a 
boy  begins  with  young  trees.  It  is 
true,  also,  if  a  boy  begins  with  old 
trees  that  seriously  need  rcnoxalion. 
Of  course,  marki-l  gardeners  hold  that 
land  not  previously  used  for  market 
gardening   requires   about   live   years 


(a)  Larger  animal  projects.  —  In- 
cluding dairying  and  general  farm 
management. 

Generally,  the  major  project  is 
dairying.  Minor  projects,  consist- 
ing of  the  continuance  of  projects 
begun  in  previous  years,  may  be 
carried. 

Dairying,  however,  may  be 
omitted  in  communities  where  there 
is  little  dairying  in  favor  of  speciali- 
zation in  fruit-growing  and  market- 
gardening  projects,  such  as  those  de- 
scribed for  third-year  pupils  in  county 
schools  and  those  hereafter  described 
for  third  and  fourth  year  department 
pupils  in  odd  years. 

(b)  Subprojects,  cropping,  and 
farm-shop  work.  —  When  dairying 
is  chosen,  subprojects  in  dairying  are 
carried,  such  as  the  growing  of  crops 
for  the  larger  animals,  including  such 
heavy  crops  as  silage  corn,  clover,  and 
alfalfa  for  the  cattle,  and  oats  for  the 
horses.  Other  subprojects  are  car- 
ried in  farm-shop  work  and  construc- 
tion, dealing  with  buildings  and  appli- 
ances. There  are,  also,  subprojects  in 
the  breeding,  care,  and  management  of 
working  animals,  including  horses. 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL  SYSTEM        239 


to  put  it  in  prime  condition  for  the 
most  profitable  vegetable  growing. 
Nevertheless,  a  quick  turnover  with 
a  fair  profit  the  first  year  may  gener- 
ally be  expected.  Thus  from  his  cash 
crop  or  crops  the  boy  derives  income 
during  the  season  or  seasons  in  which 
he  is  launching  his  fruit-growing  en- 
terprise. 

(c)  Subprojects  in  farm-shop  work 
and  other  construction  are  required 
in  connection  with  keeping  tillage 
tools  in  order ;  making  and  repairing 
hotbeds,  cold-frames,  and  flats,  also 
containers  for  harvesting,  storing,  and 
marketing  fruit  or  vegetable  products ; 
and  overhauling  power  sprayers. 

(d)  Substitutes  for  home  projects 
in  fruit  growing  or  market  gardening 
are  sometimes  accepted,  as  when  a 
boy  finds  employment  on  a  fruit  or 
market-garden  farm  with  the  privilege 
of  attending  the  school  part  time  and 
putting  into  practice  at  the  place  of 
his  employment  the  leading  methods 
taught  by  the  school. 

Boys  who  offer  substitutes  are 
visited  regularly  by  their  agricultural 
instructors. 

Here,  as  in  other  years,  the  instruc- 
tors lead  and  set  the  pace  for  their 
pupils  from  time  to  time  in  teaching 
them  the  speed  and  skill  requisite  for 
their  competent  training. 

As  in  other  years,  projects  or  sub- 
stitutes for  projects  rarely  occupy  all 
of  the  working  time  of  the  pupils.  As 
the  pupils  mature  and  their  parents 
and  others  gain  confidence  in  their 
instructors,  the  scale  of  their  projects 
tends  to  increase  and  to  ocLU|>y  a 
larger  and  larger  part  of  their  lime. 
They   generally,   however,   find   time 


(c)  Substitutes  for  home  projects 
are  accepted,  such  as  employment  on 
a  dairy  farm  with  the  privilege  of 
attending  dairy  classes,  and  with 
responsibility  for  cost-accounting  and 
record-keeping  in  connection  with 
one  or  more  cows  and  one  or  more 
crops. 

Pupils  offering  substitutes  for  proj- 
ects are  visited  regularly  by  their 
instructors,  and  no  pains  are  spared 
to  give  their  practical  work  the  ut- 
most educational  value. 

Here,  as  in  other  years,  the  in- 
structors lead  and  set  the  pace  for 
their  pupils  from  time  to  time  in 
teaching  them  the  speed  and  skill 
requisite  for  their  competent  train- 
ing. 

Dairy  farmers  have  been  found 
verj'  willing  to  employ  boys  part 
time  and  have  them  supervised,  in 
consideration  of  the  valuable  records 


240 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


for  other  farm  work,  for  which  they 
are  paid,  or  for  which  they  receive 
credit  in  lieu  of  cash,  at  home  or  on 
farms  near  by. 


of  production  thus  put  in  their  hands 
at  the  end  of  a  year. 

Dairy  projects  and  substitutes  for 
projects    rarely    occupy    the    entire 


Fig.  165.  — -Orchard  pruned  and  sprayed  by  pupils.  Field  next  to  orchard  cover  cropped 
with  turnips  and  crimson  clover.  Boys  and  instructor  looking  for  nodules  on  clover  roots. 
Ten  acres  of  tillable  land  here.  But  land  at  school  is  not  required  for  state  aid  in 
Massachusetts.    Petersham  Agricultural  Department. 


Where  a  pupil  has  his  project  at  a 
school  he  generally  finds  employ- 
ment on  the  illustrative  and  trial  proj- 
ects in  fruit  growing  and  market 
gardening  at  the  school  itself,  for 
which  he  is  paid  wages  in  proportion 
to  his  ability. 

Home  projects  and  other  home 
farm  work  are  preferred  and  predomi- 
nate. 


working  time  of  the  pupils.  Most 
of  the  pupils  do  additional  farm  work 
for  pay,  or  for  credit  in  lieu  of  cash,  at 
home  or  on  farms  near  by. 


MASSACHUSETTS  NO-DORMITORY  SCHOOL  SYSTEM        241 


All  projects  are  carefully  cost-accounted 
Written  records  are  kept  of  all 


b.  Related  study.  —  Planning  the 
foregoing  projects  and  subprojects  in- 
volves a  study  of  agricultural  chemis- 
try, with  special  reference  to  fertilizers 
and  spraj's ;  of  agricultural  physics, 
with  special  reference  to  pumps,  air 


b.  Related  study.  —  Planning  the 
above  projects  and  subprojects  in- 
volves a  study  of  the  biology  of  ani- 
mals, including  breeds  and  breeding, 
feeds  and  feeding  ;  of  prevention  and 
cure  of  animal  diseases ;     of  hygiene 


Fig.   iOO.  —  "Coming  through  the  rye  and  vetch."     Cover  crop  for  soil  improvement. 

Bristol  County  Agricultural  School. 


compressors,  caring  for  hose,  and 
keeping  the  various  tools  and  imple- 
ments in  order ;  of  economic  entomol- 
ogy; of  farm  journals;  and  of  mar- 
kets and  accounting. 

The  further  remarks  regarding  re- 
lated study  above,  in  discussing  first 
and  second  year  projects,  apply  here. 

R 


and  sanitation,  especially  in  connec- 
tion with  the  planning  of  buildings 
and  their  equipment;  of  soils  and 
seeds;  green  manuring,  liming,  uses 
of  barnyard  manures  and  commer- 
cial fertilizers;  of  crop  rotations;  of 
balancing  of  rations ;  of  tillage  and 
tillage  tools;    of  harvesting  and  har- 


242 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


(D)  For  fourth-year  pupils.  All 
years.  —  Eighty  per  cent  of  the 
pupil's  time. 

Agricultural  science  and  projects 
applied  to  a  given  community. 

a.   Animal  projects  (advanced). 

(a)  Larger  animal  projects.  —  In- 
cluding dairying  and  general  farm 
management. 

Generally  the  major  project  of  the 
fourth  year  is  dairying. 

Pupils  who  do  not  intend  to  follow 
dairying  may,  however,  omit  dairying 
in  favor  of  specialization  on  one  or 
more  other  phases  of  productive  agri- 
culture. For  example,  in  the  cases  of 
those  who  desire  to  specialize  in  fruit 
growing  or  market  gardening,  projects 
begun  in  the  third  year  may  be  con- 
tinued through  the  fourth,  and  their 
study  correspondingly  amplified. 

Pupils  who  desire  to  specialize  in 
dairying  may  begin  dairy  record- 
keeping as  an  incidental  activity,  even 
in  the  first  year,  and  continue  it 
throughout  the  four  years'  course, 
with  more  or  less  attention  from  the 
special  instructor  in  dairying.  As  a 
rule,  a  well-balanced  course,  including 
projects  of  the  third  year,  is  desirable  ; 


vesting  devices;  of  silos  and  other 
storage  for  roughage ;  and  of  imple- 
ments and  machines,  their  cost,  use, 
and  upkeep. 

The  project  instructors  deal  with 
the  various  sciences  only  so  far  as  they 
have  something  which  may  be  made 
to  contribute  to  the  understanding 
and  ef3&ciency  of  the  projects. 

The  further  remarks  regarding  re- 
lated study  above,  in  discussing  first 
and  second  year  projects,  apply  here. 

(D)  For  fourth  and  third  year  pu- 
pils. In  odd  years.  —  Fifty  per  cent 
of  tlie  pupil's  time. 

Agricultural  science  and  projects 
applied  to  a  given  community. 

a.  Plant  projects  (advanced). 
(School  years  ending  1915,  1917,  etc.) 

(a)  Fruit-growing  projects.  —  Or- 
charding and  small  fruit  growing  not 
before  dealt  with,  soils,  fertilizers, 
cover  crops,  sprays,  propagating,  cul- 
tivating, picking,  packing,  storing, 
marketing,  etc. 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL  SYSTEM      "243 


and  the  serious  attack  upon  the  prob- 
lems of  dairy  farming  as  such  is  re- 
served for  the  fourth  year. 

Where  there  is  no  specialization  in 
fruit  growing  or  market  gardening, 
minor  projects  in  one  or  both  of  these 
fields  may  be  carried  during  the  fourth 
year,  in  addition  to  major  projects  in 
dairying. 

(b)  Subprojects,  cropping,  and 
farm-shop  work.  —  When  dairying  is 
chosen,  subprojects  in  dairying  are 
carried,  such  as  the  growing  of  crops 
for  the  larger  animals,  including  such 
heavy  crops  as  silage  corn,  clover,  and 
alfalfa  for  the  cattle,  and  oats  for  the 


(b)  Market-gardening  projects. — 

Soils,  seeds,  fertilizers,  tillage,  har- 
vesting, storing,  marketing,  etc. 

The  major  projects  may  be  fruit 
growing,  and  the  minor,  market 
gardening  or  vice  versa. 

In   a   section   largelv   devoted    to 


Fig.  167.  —  Another  type  of  soil  improver,  in  from  the  range  to  produce  her  litter.  After 
dinner  naps.  Day-old  pig  as  well  as  day-old  chick  receives  attention.  Bristol  County 
Agricultural  School. 


244 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY  SCHOOL   SYSTEM  •      245 


horses.  Other  subprojects  are  carried 
in  farm-shop  work  and  construction, 
dealing  with  buildings  and  appliances. 
There  are,  also,  subprojects  in  the 
breeding,  care,  and  management  of 
working  animals,  including  horses. 


(c)  Substitutes  for  home  projects 
may  be  accepted,  such  as  employ- 
ment on  a  dairy  farm  with  the  privi- 
lege of  attending  dairy  classes,   and 


dairying,  market  gardening  may  be 
omitted  in  favor  of  enabling  pupils 
to  specialize  during  the  third  and 
fourth  years  in  dairying.  But  even 
where  the  major  projects  are  dairy- 
ing, it  is  in  the  interest  of  well-bal- 
anced farming  that  the  pupils  carry 
at  least  minor  projects  during  the 
third  and  fourth  years  in  fruit  grow- 
ing, including  orcharding. 

(c)  Subprojects  in  farm-shop  work 
and  other  construction  are,  of  course, 
required  here  as  elsewhere.  Tools 
must  be  kept  in  good  working  order 


>_^«.'^  ■>-<^c 


.V 


Fig.  169.  —  Setting  out  small  peach  orchard.  "Related  Study"  group  exercise  another 
year.  Not  all  related  study  is  study  of  books  and  bulletins  or  exercises  in  laboratories. 
This  is  an  orcharding  "  practicum."     Smith  School,  Northampton. 


with  responsibility  for  cost-account- 
ing and  record-keeping  in  connection 
with  one  or  more  cows  and  one  or 
more  crops. 

Efficiency  is  held  to  hinge  on  avoid- 
ance of  congested  numbers.  Even  if 
a  farm  on  which  a  pupil  finds  a  sub- 
stitute for  a  home  project  does  not 


and  their  use  must  be  mastered. 
Hotbeds,  cold-frames,  and  flats  must 
be  made.  Containers  for  harvesting, 
storing,  and  marketing  fruit  and  vege- 
table products  must  be  provided  and 
kept  in  repair.  Most  of  the  instruc- 
tors have  automobiles,  and  are  pre- 
pared to   teach  at  least   the  simpler 


246 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


follow  the  best  methods  nor  attain 
the  highest  standards,  it  will  be  sur- 
charged with  the  realities  of  an  enter- 
prise struggling  forward  on  its  own 
feet.  Supplemented  by  observation 
of,  and  occasional  participation  in, 
work  of  the  best  farms  visited,  includ- 
ing that  of  the  county  school,  even 
such  a  farm  will  give  a  boy  first-hand 
knowledge  of,  and  fundamental  drill 


day-to-day  repairs  and  adjustments 
required  by  power  sprayers  and  other 
motor-driven  apparatus. 

(d)  Substitutes  for  home  projects. 
—  Most  departments  are  in  rural 
high  schools,  or  in  high  schools  of 
cities  with  farming  in  their  suburbs. 
The  departments,  therefore,  are  not 
perplexed  so  much  as  a  county  school 
may  be  by  the  problem  of  finding  land 


Fig.  170.  —  Home  project  in  orcharding.  345  apple  trees  set  out  in  1913  by  Gordon 
Nightingale.  Intercropped  with  corn  and  pumpkins.  Water  pumptd  away  from  tree 
roots  by  turnips  sowed  along  the  rows  of  trees  at  right  time  to  harden  new  growth  of 
trees  for  winter.  Baldwins  for  permanent  trees;  Mcintosh,  for  semi-permanent; 
Wealthy,  for  fillers.     Petersham  Agricultural  Department. 


in,  the  season  to  season  operations  of 
the  yearly  farm  routine. 

The  practical  work  on  substitutes 
is  followed  up  by  the  agricultural  in- 
structor as  closely  as  is  that  of  pupils 
who  have  projects  on  their  home 
farms. 

Here,  as  in  other  years,  the  instruc- 
tors lead  and  set  the  pace  for  their 
pupils  from  time  to  time  in  teaching 


and  equipment  for  home  projects. 
Nevertheless,  in  the  last  two  years  it 
is  harder  than  in  the  first  two  to  pro- 
vide for  home  projects  adequately. 
In  the  country,  in  a  village,  or  in  a 
suburb,  as  a  rule,  the  smaller  boys 
find  little  difficulty  in  providing  for 
the  smaller  home  projects  of  their  first 
two  years.  But  in  not  a  few  cases, 
when    the    third    or    fourth    year    is 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM        247 


them  the  speed  and  skill  requisite  for 
their  competent  training. 

Dairying  projects  and  substitutes 
for  projects  rarely  occupy  the  entire 
working  time  of  the  pupil.     Most  of 


reached,  the  boys,  now  bigger,  who 
are  genuinely  minded  to  become 
farmers,  live  at  homes  which  are  with- 
out land  and  equipment  for  the  long- 
time   projects    of    dairying    or    fruit 


Fig.  171.  —  One  of  trees,  not  the  largest,  second  summer,  1914,  in  Gordon's  orchard 
project.  Note  well-balanced,  low  head  and  symmetrical  shape.  Intercropped  as  be- 
fore. Cover-cropped,  of  course.  Rye  sowed  at  last  cultivation.  Plowed  under  in 
following  spring.  Gordon  at  right.  His  instructor  at  left.  Petersham  Agricultural 
Department. 


the  pupils  do  additional  farm  work  for 
pa  J',  or  for  credit  in  lieu  of  cash,  either 
at  home,  at  the  school,  or  on  farms 
near  by. 

The  school  has  the  first  claim  upon 
the  pupil  during  his  course,  and  the 
right  to  determine  what  he  shall  do, 
also  how  and  when  he  shall  do  it,  in 
projects  agreed  upon.  It  does  not 
monopolize  his  time,  nor  does  it  un- 
dertake to  run  the  entire  home  farm 
or  other  farm  on  which  the  pupil  may 


growing  and  the  big-scale  projects  of 
market  gardening  or  cash  crop  grow- 
ing. 

That  is  to  say,  substitutes  for 
home  projects  may  be  required  in  the 
last  two  j'ears  more  often  than  in  the 
first  two. 

Consequently,  it  has  been  sug- 
gested that  departments  confine  their 
teaching  to  first  and  second  year  proj- 
ects, and  promote  their  older  boys 
to    one    or    another    of    the    county 


248 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY  SCHOOL  SYSTEM        249 


be  employed.  Indeed  the  sharper  the 
contrast  between  the  pupil's  project 
and  less  capable  farming  in  its  vicin- 
ity, the  clearer  the  lesson  and  the 
more  potent  the  school  in  the  com- 
munity. Repeatedly  methods  fol- 
lowed by  boj's  on  a  small  scale  have 


schools.  Advantage  could  thus  be 
taken  of  the  illustrative  and  trial 
projects  at  the  school  for  group  in- 
struction in  observation  and  practice 
work,  and  some  opportunity  might 
be  had  there  for  individual  projects. 
This  policy  would  have  much  in  its 


Fig.  173.  —  "  Pounds  of  Prevention."  Tent  caterpillar  nest  collecting  contest.  Contests 
in  Hadley  and  Harwich  most  notable.  Million  "tents"  kept  from  multiplying.  School 
Committee  and  others  pay  for  nests  brought  to  school,  or  award  prizes.  Hadley  Agri- 
cultural Department. 


the  ne.xt  year  been  followed  by  their 
fathers  and  others  on  a  big  scale. 

The  "  gang-labor  "  type  of  work  is 
avoided  in  the  fourth  year,  as  in  all 
others,  by  seeing  to  it  that  most  of  the 
work  of  pupils  shall  exemplify  their 
teaching,  and  by  requiring  the  ut- 
most individual  initiative  and  re- 
sponsibility. 


favor  in  a  county  school  which  under- 
took to  restrict  its  enrollment  at  the 
central  school  to  a  moderate  number, 
consisting  mainly  of  pupils  sixteen 
years  of  age  or  older,  and  to  do  its 
work  of  the  first  two  years  mainly 
through  the  one-teacher  branches 
elsewhere  referred  to.  The  county 
school  itself,  however,  must  be  pro- 
tected against  congestion.  The  prob- 
lem of  providing  adequate  project 
and  other  productive  employment  for 
a  big  number  at  a  school  might  be 
insurmountable,  whereas  providing 
acceptable  substitutes  now  and  then 


2;o  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTUR.\L   EDUCATION 


for  a  boy  in  a  department  is  compara- 
tively easy. 

Efficiency  is  held  to  hinge  on  avoid- 
ance of  congested  numbers.  Even 
if  a  farm  on  which  a  pupil  finds  a  sub- 
stitute for  a  home  project  does  not 
follow  the  best  methods  nor  attain 
the  highest  standards,  it  will  be  sur- 
charged with  the  realities  of  an  enter- 
prise struggling  forward  on  its  own 
feet.  Supplemented  by  observation 
of,  and  occasional  participation  in, 
work  of  the  best  farms  visited,  in- 
cluding that  of  the  nearest  county 
school,  even  such  a  farm  will  give  a 
boy  first-hand  knowledge  of,  and 
fundamental  drill  in,  the  season  to 
season  operations  of  the  yearly  farm 
routine. 

Acceptable  substitutes,  when  re- 
quired, are  commonly  found  in  the 
vicinity  of  a  department. 

The  practical  work  on  substitutes 
is  followed  up  by  the  agricultural  in- 
structors as  closely  as  is  that  of  pupils 
who  have  projects  on  their  home 
farms. 

The  combination  of  long-time 
fruit  projects  with  the  annual  turn- 
over found  in  market  garden  or 
other  cash  crops  is  as  desirable  here 
as  in  a  school,  and  for  the  reasons 
stated  in  discussing  third-year  school 
projects. 

Here,  as  in  other  years,  the  in- 
structors lead  and  set  the  pace  for 
their  pupils  from  time  to  time  in 
teaching  them  the  speed  and  skill 
requisite  for  their  competent  training. 

As  in  other  years,  projects  or  sub- 
stitutes for  projects  rarely  occupy  all 
of  the  working  time  of  the  pupils. 
Projects  tend  to  become  larger  as  the 


,-.:P-\'^- 


i^ 


Fig.  174.  —  Spraying  peach  trees  to  pre\tnt  rot.     Learning  how  to  operate  a  power 
sprayer.     Bristol  County  Agricultural  School. 


Fig.   175.  —  Time  to  cultivate  the  peach  orchard.     Boy  handling  the  team.     Bristol 

County  Agricultural  School. 

251 


252  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

boys  grow  up  and  confidence  in  them 
and  their  instructors  increases.  Still 
there  is  generally  about  half  of  the 
working  time  available  for  general 
farm  work  for  wages,  or  for  credit 
in  lieu  of  cash,  on  the  home  farms  or 
on  other  farms  near. 

The  department  has  the  first  claim 
upon  the  pupil  during  his  course,  and 
the  right  to  determine  what  he  shall 
do,  also  how  and  when  he  shall  do  it, 
in  agreed-upon  projects.  It  does  not 
monopolize  his  time,  nor  does  it 
undertake  to  run  the  entire  home 
farm  or  other  farm  on  which  the  pu- 
pil may  be  employed.  Indeed  the 
sharper  the  contrast  between  the 
pupil's  project  and  less  capable  farm- 
ing in  its  vicinity,  the  clearer  the 
lesson  and  the  more  potent  the  de- 
partment in  the  community.  Re- 
peatedly methods  followed  by  boys 
on  a  small  scale  have  the  next  year 
been  followed  by  their  fathers  and 
others  on  a  big  scale. 

The  "  gang-labor  "  type  of  work 
is  avoided  in  the  third  and  fourth 
years,  as  in  all  others,  by  seeing  to  it 
that  a  fair  proportion  of  the  work  of 
pupils  shall  exemphfy  their  teaching, 
and  by  requiring  the  utmost  individ- 
ual initiative  and  responsibility. 

Home  projects,  supplemented  by  other  home-farm  work,  are  preferred 

and  predominate 

All  projects  are  carefully  cost-accounted 

Written  records  are  kept  of  all 

b.  Related  study.  —  Planning  the  b.  Related  study.  —  Planning  the 
above  projects  and  subprojects  in-  foregoing  projects  and  subprojects  in- 
volves a  study  of  the  biology  of  ani-  volves  study  of  chemistry,  with 
mals,  including  breeds  and  breeding,  special  reference  to  fertilizers  and 
feeds  and  feeding ;  of  prevention  and  sprays ;     physics  in  its  applications 


MASSACHUSETTS  NO-DORMITORY  SCHOOL   SYSTEM        253 


cure  of  animal  diseases;  of  hygiene 
and  sanitation,  especially  in  connec- 
tion with  the  planning  of  buildings  and 
their  equipment;  of  soils  and  seeds; 
of   green    manuring,    liming,   uses   of 


to  pumps,  air  compressors,  imple- 
ments, and  motors;  farm  journals; 
plant  physiology,  including  plant 
diseases ;  economic  entomology ; 
markets ;    accounting ;     and  business 


Fig.  176.  —  Sc1iu.j1  [itujclL.    1judIo:i  l,....^    ...c  convenient  for  carrying  fruit.    Note  train- 
ing in  careful  habits  of  picking  and  handling  apples.     Essex  County  School. 


barn-yard  manures  and  commercial 
fertilizers ;  of  crop  rotations ;  of  balanc- 
ing of  rations ;  of  tillage  and  tillage 
tools ;  of  harvesting  and  harvesting 
devices;  of  silos  and  other  storage  for 
roughage;  and  of  implements  and 
machines,  their  cost,  use,  and  upkeep. 
The  foregoing  study  is  particularly 
rich  in  contributions  from  chemistry, 
physics,  and  veterinary  science.     At- 


mcthods  in  correspondence  and  filing 
papers.  Particular  attention  is  given 
to  the  principles  and  the  best  methods 
of  farm  management. 

The  project  instructors  deal  with 
the  various  sciences  only  so  far  as 
they  have  something  which  may  be 
made  to  contribute  to  the  under- 
standing and  eiliciency  of  the 
projects. 


254 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


tention  is  also  given  to  methods  of 
competitive  and  cooperative  buying 
and  selling,  to  accounting,  and  to 
other  business  methods,  including 
typewriting  correspondence  and  fil- 
ing papers. 

Particular  attention  is  given  to  the 
principles  and  tha  best  methods  of 
farm  management. 

What  has  been  said  further  re- 
garding related  study  in  previous 
j^ears  is  equally  applicable  here. 

(E)  Part-time  pupils.  Any  year. 
—  The  foregoing  four  years'  plan 
consists  of  a  series  of  courses  each 
complete  in  itself.  It  is  progressive 
for  the  pupil  who  can  take  the  en- 
tire series.  But  it  has  certain  age 
and  economic  risk  adaptations  which 
make   it   advantageous   for   a   pupil. 


What  has  been  said  further  re- 
garding related  study  in  previous 
years  is  equaU}-  appUcable  here. 


(E)  Part-time  pupils.      Any  year. 

—  The  foregoing  four  years'  plan, 
consisting  of  a  series  of  courses  each 
complete  in  itself,  and  occupying 
only  one-half  the  school  day,  has 
strong  attractions  for  older  boys  who 
may  have  graduated  from  a  regular 
high  school  covuse,  who  are  engaged 


Fig.   177. -^  Training  in  box  iidckiiifc.     School  project.     Bo.x  packing  not  too  good  for  the 
best.     Apple  packing  table  made  by  the  boys.     Essex  County  Agricultural  School. 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL  SYSTEM        255 


particularly  one  who  has  graduated 
from  a  high  school,  to  take  part  of  it, 
and  to  restrict  school  attendance  to 
distinctively  agricultural  classes. 

Every  year  pupils  are  admitted  for 
agreed-upon  parts  of  the  four  years' 
course.  In  each  such  part-time  case, 
however,   project  study  and   project 


in  farm  work,  and  who  could  devote 
one-half  the  school  day  to  project 
study  and  project  work. 

The  proportion  of  part-time  pupils 
is  greater  in  departments  than  in 
county  schools,  due,  perhaps,  to  con- 
venience of  access.  Rarely  does  a  pupil 
have  to  travel  more  than  five  miles 


Fig.  178.  —  Myron  Gale  picking  apples  at  home.     Year  of  photo,  he  earned  $154.50  cash 
from  farm  work,  and  got  $67.22  from  his  home  projects.     Hadley  Department. 


work,  like  those  required  of  all-day 
pupils,  are  required,  and  carry  with 
them  the  duties  and  privileges  of 
home-project  supervision,  or  super- 
vision of  acceptable  substitutes  for 
home  projects.  The  project  study  in- 
cludes cost-accounting,  record  keeping, 
and  reporting. 


to  reach  a  department;  the  average 
distance  is  much  shorter  than  that. 

The  requirements  for  the  part- 
time  pupils  while  in  the  course  are 
identical  with  those  of  all-day  pupils 
as  to  project  study  and  project  work, 
including  cost-accounting,  record  keep- 
ing, and  reporting.  Home  projects  or 
acceptable  substitutes  therefor  are 
required  and  are  supervised. 


256 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


All  home  projects  are  cost-accounted 
Written  records  are  kept  of  all 


(F)  Evening  class.  Any  year.  — 
Almost  any  of  the  short  units  in  the 
series  of  courses  for  all-day  pupils  can 
be  given  adults  in  evening  classes. 
Demand  for  such  instruction  is  being 
met. 

Home  projects,  or  acceptable  sub- 
stitutes, are  required  of  evening  class 
pupils,  and  carry  with  them  the  duties 
and  privileges  of  supervision.  That 
is  to  say,  no  school  wastes  time  on 


(F)  Evening  class.  Any  year.  — 
Short  units  of  instruction  are  readilj' 
selected  from  the  foregoing  four 
years'  series  which  can  be  taught 
adults  in  evening  classes. 

Demand  for  such  instruction  is 
being  met. 

An  interesting  phase  of  evening 
class  instruction  is  the  class  for  grad- 
uates of  the  regular  course  who  de- 
sire to  study  more   thoroughly,  and 


Fig.  179.  —  Frank  Kokoski  and  his  own  apples  at  home.  He  pruned  and  sprayed.  He 
also  had  onion  project  for  cash  crop.  Helped  on  other  farm  work,  including  large  acreage 
of  tobacco.     Hadley  Agricultural  Department. 


academic  agriculture.  Each  school, 
in  its  work  with  adults,  no  less  than  in 
its  work  with  boys,  aims  its  instruc- 
tion at  better  farming,  and  will  not 
spend  count)'  or  state  money  on  any 
man  who  will  not  put  into  effect  at  the 
first  seasonable  opportunity  certain 
well-proved  principles  of  better  farm- 
ing, and  permit  the  school  to  observe 


in  the  light  of  their  farm  work,  certain 
of  the  units  previously  dealt  with  to 
some  extent  in  their  project  study  and 
project  work. 

In  connection  with  all  evening 
class  study,  home  projects,  or  accept- 
able substitutes,  are  required,  either 
concurrently  with  the  study,  or  at 
the  first  seasonable  opportunity,  and 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY  SCHOOL   SYSTEM        257 


ORCHARDING 

SkiUat 
Entrance 

CERTIFICATION 

SkiU 

Age 

Year 

Certified  by 

*i.   Grafting,  cleft 

*2.   Grafting,  root 

*3.  Budding 

*4.   Setting  trees 

*5.   Pruning  young  apple  trees    . 
*6.   Pruning  mature  apple  trees  . 
*7.   Pruning  renovation      .      .     . 

8..  Pruning  peach  trees     .      .      . 

9.   Pruning  pear  trees  .... 

10.  Pruning  plum  trees      .      .     . 

11.  Pruning  cherry  trees    .      .      . 
*i2.   jMixing  lime-sulphur  concen- 
trate 

- 

1 

13.   ^Mixing    self-boiled     lime-sul 

phur 

*i4.  Tobacco  extract  Black  Leaf-40 
*i5.   Arsenate  of  lead,  mixing  . 
*t6     Soluble  oils,  mixinff 

1 

i 

' 

*i7.   Paris  green,  mixing       .      .      . 
*i8.   Spraying,  winter      .... 
*i9.   Spraying,  spring      .... 
*20.   Spraying,  summer  .... 
*2i.   Spraying,  knapsack  pump     . 
*22.   Spraying,  barrel       .... 
*23.  Spraying,  power       .... 
*24.  Thinning  apples       .... 
*2$.  Picking  apples 

26.  Picking  pears 

27.  Picking  peaches        .... 

28.  Picking  plums 

29.  Picking  cherries        .... 

*3o.   Grading  fruit 

*3i.  Packing  fancy  packages   .      . 
*32.   Packing  bushel  box      .     .      . 
*^^.   Packing  barrel 

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258 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


the  workability  of  these  principles  as 
applied  to  his  particular  farm  or  the 
farm  on  which  he  is  employed. 


carry  with  them  the  duties  and  privi- 
leges of  supervision. 


Adaptation  of  the  "  evening  class  "  to  agriculture  sometimes  requires  exer- 
cises before  sunset ;  and  sometimes  consists  of  itinerant,  home  to  home  teach- 
ing and  supervision,  with  no  classes  meeting  indoors.  The  latter  type  of  in- 
struction has  been  considerably  developed  in  supervision  of  war  gardening  of 
those  over  sixteen  years  of  age. 

Evening  classes  may  be  held  in  the  regular  classrooms  of  the  school  or 
department,  or  in  selected  neighborhoods.  Evening  class  plans  are  submitted 
to  the  Board  of  Education  for  "  preliminary  approval  "  prior  to  putting  them 
into  effect,  and  in  all  cases  are  such  as  not  to  impair  the  day  class  instruction. 


.0 

tt&S. 

^^&.'' 

Fig.  i8i.  —  New  England  is  famous  for  its  varied  scenery,  its  clear  streams  and  wooded 
hills.  A  glimpse  of  Ipswich  River  from  an  apple  orchard  on  Turner  Hill  Farm.  But 
Massachusetts  slopes  are  highly  favorable  to  fruit  growing,  and  Massachusetts  fruit 
is  famous  for  color  and  flavor.  Some  of  the  boys  on  graduation  have  made  a  one,  two, 
and,  sometimes,  even  a  three  or  four  year  start  on  fine  home  orchards.  Boys  begin,  — 
they  do  not  have  to  wait,  under  the  home  project  plan  of  education. 

All  home  projects  are  cost-accounted 
Written  records  are  kept  of  all 


B.  Non-agricultural.  Required  of 
all-day  pupils.  —  Twenty  per  cent  of 
the  pupil's  time. 

Parallel  with  the  agricultural  proj- 
ect  study   and   project    work   above 


B.  Non-agricultural.  Optional, 
but  advised.  —  Fifty  per  cent  of  the 
pupil's  time. 

Pupils  giving  one-half  the  high 
school    day    to    agricultural    project 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM 


!59 


outlined,  the  all-day  pupils  in  county 
schools  are  required  to  devote  one- 
fifth  of  their  time  to  the  study  of  such 
subjects  as  the  following : 


(A)  English,  every  year,  to  give  a 
love  for  good  reading  in  books,  paper?, 
and  magazines ;  drill  in  spelling  and 
composition;  also  practice  in  public 
speaking  and  debating. 

(B)  History,  part  of  one  or  more 
years,  with  special  reference  to  cur- 
rent and  local  history. 


(C)  Citizenship,  part  of  one  or 
more  years,  with  emphasis  on  rural 
community  conditions.  Bulletin  No. 
650  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of 
Education  is  a  suggested  guide. 


(D)  Government,  part  of  one  or 
more  years,  including  state    and  na- 


studj'  and  project  work  are  advised 
to  devote  the  other  half  to  regular 
high  school  subjects. 

Fortunately  the  tendency  in  high 
school  administration  is  to  give  first 
place  to  subjects  of  greatest  value  to 
pupils  who  complete  their  schooling 
with  the  high  school ;  and  in  the  first 
and  second  years,  to  subjects  of 
greatest  value  to  pupils  who  do  not 
remain  in  high  school  more  than  two 
■years. 

Such  subjects  are  becoming  avail- 
able. Agricultural  pupils  are  urged 
and  expected  as  a  rule  to  take  them. 
Two  non-agricultural  subjects  at  a 
time  should  run  parallel  with  the 
agricultural,  and  now  may  very  gener- 
ally be  selected  from  such  a  list  as 
the  following : 

(A)  English,  every  j'ear.  apprecia- 
tion and  expression,  to  de\"elop  power 
in  oral  and  written  composition  and 
to  give  a  love  for  good  reading. 

(B)  Social  science,  including  his- 
tory, two  years.  Community  civics, 
with  some  such  guide  as  United  States 
Bureau  of  Education  Bulletin  No. 
650,  may  be  offered  the  first  or  second 
year,  and  a  good  course  in  civics  and 
economics  in  the  third  or  fourth; 

(C)  Natiu"al  science  is  generally 
offered  every  year  about  as  follows : 
first  year,  elementary  general  science 
with  some  reference  to  the  rural  en- 
vironment ;  second  year,  biology  of 
plants,  animals,  and  man  ;  third  and 
fourth  years,  generally  alternating, 
physics  and  chemistr>-  with  some 
attention  to  agricullurc 

(D)  Drawing,  mechanical  and  free- 
hand,   when    offered,    should    be    of 


26o 


VOCATION.\L  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


tional  government  in  the  United 
States,  but  especially  the  local  town 
or  city  government  and  the  duties  of 
local  administrative  officers. 

(E)  Economics,  part  of  one  or 
more  years,  including  economic  his- 
tory, and  such  problems  as  those  of 


much  value  to  the  agricultural  pupil 
in  developing  his  powers  of  observa- 
tion and  representation,  and  some 
skill  in  the  use  and  care  of  drawing 
instruments. 

(E)  Shop  work  is  sometimes  of- 
fered, and  should  give  good  training 
in    the  care    and    use    of    tools    and 


Fig.  182.  —  Farm  woodlot  and  reforestatiuu  iiici\c  attention.  Forest  tin.-  pkuuing,  on 
slopes  too  steep  for  orcharding,  ended  "Arbor  Day."  Homemaking  department  in- 
vited.    Everybody  in  the  school  planted  a  tree.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 


capital,  wages,  rent,  competition,  co- 
operation, credit,  transportation,  mar- 
keting, and  accounting. 

(F)  Drawing,  part  of  one  or  more 
years,  freehand  and  mechanical. 
Training  of  both  eye  and  hand. 


(G)  Hygiene  and  physical  train- 
ing, part  of  every  year,  with  drills  in 


experience   in  making   and   repairing 
farm  equipment. 

(F)  Business  courses  are  some- 
times offered,  including  at  least  an 
introductory  course  in  penmanship, 
typewriting,  business  forms  and  pro- 
cedure, filing  and  farm  accounts. 
Business  arithmetic,  bookkeeping, 
commercial  geography,  and  commer- 
cial law  may  also  be  available. 
Such  courses  give  an  agricultural 
pupil  valuable  knowledge  and  skill 
for  the  betterment  of  farming  as  a 
business. 

(G)  Physical  training  is  desirable 
and  should  be  taken  by  the  agricul- 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL  SYSTEM        26 1 


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262 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


"  first  aid  "  and  "  setting  up  "  exer- 
cises. Many  farm  boys  are  muscular, 
but  misshapen  and  in  need  of  sym- 
metrical development. 

(H)  Music,  part  of  every  year,  in- 
cluding class  and  school  songs,  school 
chorus  singing,  development  of  quar- 
tet or  glee  club,  orchestra  or  band. 


tural  pupil.  Gymnastics  or  calis- 
thenics should  be  required  of  all 
pupils,  except  those  excused  on  a 
physician's  certificate  that  such  exer- 
cises would  be  injurious. . 

(H)  Music.  —  The  Board  of  Edu- 
cation believes  that  every  high  school 
should  devote  a  certain  amount  of 
time  to  singing,  and  that   when  the 


Fig.   184.  —  Father  strong  backer  ui  lladley's  Agricultural  Deparlnienl  because  it  brings 

study  to  bear  on  home  projects. 


Fig.  185.  —  Boys  who  cannot  attend  full  time  are  not  neglected.     Homer  Greene  rides 
in  four  miles  for  advice  on  feeding  dairy  cows.     Hadley  Agricultural  Department. 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM        263 

number  is  large,  classes  should  be 
formed  sufficiently  small  to  secure 
participation  by  all  pupils.  This 
should  apply  to  agricultural  pupils. 


Fig.   180.  —  Dairj-ing  class  studying  fine  Holstein   herd  ol   neighbor.     (.)wner  successful 
alfalfa  grower.     Admirable  farm  to  watch.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 


Fig.  187.  —  Mr.  Joseph  Cook,  member  of  advisory  committee,  practical  farmer,  showing 
fine  points  of  one  of  his  Holsteins.  Helping  coach  boys  for  judging  contest.  Boy  won 
state  championship.  Hadley  Agricultural  Department.  Many  Holstein  fanciers  in 
Massachusetts.  D.  W.  Field  Farm,  Montello,  Mass.,  home  of  "King  Ormsby  Jane  Rag 
Apple,"  the  $53,000  bull,  a  son  of  "Rag  Apple  Korndyke  8th"  and  "Ormsby  Jane 
Segis  Aaggie,  the  Great  White  Heifer." 


264 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTUR.AL   EDUCATION 


CAREER   MOTIVE  —  BETTER   FARMING 

VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION  AT  A  COUNTY  AGRICULTURAL  SCHOOL 

For  All-day  Pupils  has  Two  Parts 

Part   2.  —  Gen- 

Part I .  —  Vocational  Education 

eral  Education 

80  Per  Cent  of  Pupil's  Time 

20  Per  Cent  of 

Pupil's  Time 

III  50  per  cent  in  project  study  and 

(2)  30  per  cent  "  re- 

20 per  cent  cul- 

project work,  centering  on : 

lated    study,"    con- 

tural and  good 

sisting  of  such  close 

citizenship  ed- 

A. Projects  of  the  pupils. 

correlation  with  the 

ucation!  n  such 

a.  At  home,  as  a  rule. 

project    study    and 

subjects  as : 

b.  At  school,  rarely-. 

project  work  of  the 

c.   Pupil  responsible,  but  super- 

following  activities 

vised  by  his  instructor. 

or    subjects    of   in- 
struction as  to  war- 
rant     the       prefix 
"farm"  or   "agri- 
cultural "  : 

B.  Projects  of  the  school. 

Farm  arithmetic 

English 

a.   Illustrative    of    well-proved 

methods,  crops,  etc. 

Farm  biology 

b.  Trial,  as  to  adaptability  of 

Farm  physics 

History 

promising  methods,  crops. 

etc.,  to  local  conditions. 

Farm  chemistry 

c.   School  responsible,  but  uses 
projects  for  group  instruc- 

Farm entomology 

Citizenship 

tion  of  pupils  in  observa- 

Farm veterinary 

Government 

tion  and  practice  work. 

science 

C.  Substitutes  for  projects. 

Farm  drawing 

Economics 

a.   Work    on    approved    farm. 

with   agreed-upon    educa- 

Farm shop  work 

Drawing,    free- 

tional   duties    as    cost-ac- 

hand        and 

counting  one  or  more  cows 

Farm  typewriting 

mechanical 

or  one  or  more  crops. 

and  filing. 

b.  Work   on   the   school  farm. 

Hygiene       and 

with    educational    duties 

Farm  accounts 

physical 

like  the  above. 

training 

c.    Employer     chiefly     respon- 

Farm journal  reading 

Music 

sible,  but  pupil  supervised 

Agricultural  econom- 

by instructor. 

ics 

Recreation 

Fig.  188.  —  Diagram  of  County  Agricultural  School  Education. 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM       265 


CAREER   MOTIVE  —  BETTER   FARMING 

VOCATIONAL    EDUCATION    IN    A    HIGH    SCHOOL  AGRICULTURAL 

DEPARTMENT 

For  Day  Pupils  should  have  Two  Parts 

Part  I .  —  Vocational  Education 

Part  2.  —  General  Education 

50  Per  Cent  of  Pupil's  Time 

50  Per  Cent  of  Pupil's  Time 

Project  Study   and   Project  Work, 

Cultural  and  Good  Citizenship  Edu- 

centering on : 

cation,  selected  from  one  or  more  of 

(i)  Projects  of  the  pupils. 

the    regular   high    school    courses. 

A.  At  home,  as  a  rule. 

and  deahng  with  such  subjects  as  : 

B.  Near  home,  occasionally. 

C.   Pupil  responsible,  but  super- 

English, every  year 

vised  by  instructor. 

(2)  Projects  of  the  department. 

Social  science,  including  community 

A.  At  the  high  school,  rarely. 

civics  and  economics 

B.  Neighborhood        demonstra- 

tions, as  of  pruning,  spray- 

ing,    hotbed     making,     or 

Natural   science,    including   elemen- 

greenhouse work. 

tary  science,  biology,  physics,  and 

C.  Instructor    responsible,    but 

chemistry 

uses  projects  for  group  in- 

struction    in     observation 

and  practice  work. 

Drawing,  freehand  and  mechanical 

(3)  Substitutes  for  projects. 

A.   Work    on    approved    farms. 

with   agreed   upon   educa- 

Shop work 

tional    duties,    as    cost-ac- 

counting one  or  more  cows 

or  one  or  more  crops. 

Business,      including      t^qje  writing. 

B.   Employer  chiefly  responsible. 

business   forms   and   filing,    book- 

but pupil  supervised  by  in- 

keeping,   commercial    geography. 

structor. 

and  commercial  law 

(4)  Remark.  —  The  agricultural  in- 

structor  must,   as   a   rule. 

teach   his    boys   the    vital 

Physical  training 

correlations  between  their 

projects  and  such  subjects 

and  activities  as  arithmetic. 

Music 

biology,  physics,  chemistry, 

entomology,  drawing,  shop 

work,     accounting,     filing, 

Recreation 

farm  journal  reading,  and 

agricultural  economics. 

Fig.  189.  —  Diagram  of  High  School  .Agricultural  Department  Education. 


266 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


(I)  Recreation,  part  of  every  year, 
with  special  attention  to  a  wholesome 
and  pleasant  country  life.  There 
should  be  supervised  interclass  athlet- 
ics; boy-scouting;  camera-hunting; 
minstrel  shows  and  amateur  dramat- 
ics; also  pageants  portraying  memo- 
rable episodes  in  local,  national,  and 
world  history.  Music,  physical  train- 
ing, and  recreation  may  have  much  in 
common.  The  first  two  merit  places 
on  the  regular  school  program.  The 
last  may  well  be  developed  coopera- 
tively b}'  staff  and  pupils;  but  it 
should  be  given  serious  attention  by 
a  committee  of  the  staff,  and  a  place 
on  the  regular  program  of  the  school. 

(J)  Remarks.  —  One  who  exam- 
ines this  list  of  non-agricultural  sub- 
jects, and  notes  their  limitation  to  20 
per  cent  of  the  pupil's  time  and  the 
absence  of  such  subjects  as  chemistry, 
should  bear  in  mind  that  in  the  30  per 
cent  of  time  reserved  for  the  "  related 
study  "  above  outlined,  a  grasp  such 
as  is  seldom  realized  in  a  high  school 
is  had  of  many  subjects,  some  of  which 
might  be  listed  as  agricultural  arith- 
metic, accounts,  typewriting,  draw- 
ing and  shop  work,  biology  of  plants, 
animals,  and  man,  physics  and  chem- 
istry. In  short,  the  county  school 
produces  notable  values  in  the  general 
education  of  its  pupils. 

Fig.  188,  above,  presents  in  dia- 
grammatic form  the  educational  aims, 
requirements  and  advantages  of  the 
four  years'  course  for  all-day  pupils. 


(I)  Recreation,  part  of  every  year, 
should  receive  a  fair  share  of  the  at- 
tention of  the  department,  as  it  does 
of  the  school.  Agricultural  pupils 
have  often  been  the  best  athletes, 
speakers,  and  musicians  in  their  high 
schools.  The  agricultural  instructor 
should  constitute  himself  a  committee, 
or  cooperate  with  others  in  a  larger 
committee,  for  promotion  and  super- 
vision of  forms  of  recreation  which 
will  lead  to  well-rounded,  wholesome, 
and  pleasant  country  life. 

Fig.  189,  above,  presents  in  dia- 
grammatic form  the  educational  aims, 
requirements,  and  advantages  of  the 
four  years'  course  for  day  pupils. 


7.    Qualifications  of  Teachers 

In  view  of  the  foregoing  discussion  of  courses  of  study,  it  will  be 
evident  that  the  make-up  of  the  teaching  staff  of  a  county  agricultural 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM        267 


school  will  be  radically  different  from  the  make-up  of  a  high  school 
staff.  The  high  school  has  a  divided  aim,  in  that  it  admits  some 
pupils  whose  career  motive  is  farming,  and  other  pupils  with  various 
other  career  motives ;  whereas  the  county  agricultural  school  admits 
only  those  who  desire  to  prepare  themselves  for  better  farming.  The 
qualifications  of  the  special  instructors  for  agricultural  departments 


Fig.  190.  —  "Dolly  Dimple,"  "Queen  of  the  Guernsey  Milkers."  Class  studying  "dairy 
type"  in  1914  at  Longwater  Farms.  Owner,  Mr.  F.  Lothrop  Ames,  sold  75  Guernseys 
at  auction,  Oct.  10,  1916,  for  average  of  $1092;  and,  at  Lake  Forest,  111.,  May  16, 
1918,  in  consignment  sale  got  up  by  American  Guernsey  Cattle  Club,  sold  7  for  average 
of  $3400,  the  average  of  5  of  this  consignment  being  $4600.  North  Easton  Agricultural 
Department. 

are  of  the  same  general  nature  as  those  of  the  teachers  of  agricultural 
projects  and  related  studies  in  a  county  school. 

At  the  outset  it  should  be  stated  that  the  Board  of  Education  does 
not  appoint  instructors  nor  fix  salaries. 

It  should  also  be  stated  that  under  certain  conditions  aids  and 
assistants  are  approved,  but  that  candidates  for  such  positions  must 
have  the  academic  training  of  an  instructor,  and  have  had  the  equiva- 
lent of  three  years  of  experience  in  approved  farm  work. 


?68 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


(i)  Fitness  for  particular  position.  —  The  Board  of  Education  does 
not  base  its  "  preliminary  approval  "  of  applicants  for  agricultural 
instructorships  upon  any  plan  of  general  certification.  The  Board 
is  on  the  lookout  for  good  men  for  this  work,  and  has  an  extensive  Ust 
of  specially  quahfied  men  which  may  be  drawn  upon,  but  directors 
and  superintendents  are  at  liberty  to  look  elsewhere  for  candidates. 


Fig.  igi .  —  Favorite  of  the  school  herd  of  pure-bred  Ayrshires,  "  Sweet  Marie  of  Woodside." 
Good  example  of  "dairy  type."     Bristol  County  Agricultural  School. 

Often  advisory  committees  are  invited  to  cooperate  in  choice  among 
candidates,  and,  of  course,  bring  to  the  task  exceptional  knowledge 
of  the  special  requirements  of  local  farming.  Each  applicant  is  meas- 
ured by  his  apparent  degree  of  fitness  to  meet  the  requirements  of 
the  position  for  which  he  may  be  considered. 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM        269 

(2)  Not  passed  upon  once  for  all.  —  "  Preliminary  approval  "  of 
qualifications  of  teachers  by  the  Board  of  Education  is  withheld  unless 
there  is  reasonable  assurance  that  a  given  applicant  is  of  such  steady 
purpose  as  to  be  disposed  to  remain  in  the  position  for  which  he  is 
considered  at  least  two  years,  and  otherwise  qualified  to  last  not  less 
than  two  years.  The  qualifications  of  teachers  are  subject  to  con- 
stant review,  and  appointments  as  such  carry  with  them  no  certainty 


Fig.   192.  —  Equipment  for  sanitary  milk  production,  —  tooling,  bottling,  etc. ;  also  for 
making  butter  and  fancy  ices.     Essex  County  Agricultural  School. 

of  permanent  employment.  Each  instructor's  future,  however,  may 
fairly  be  said  to  be  in  his  own  hands.  Permanently  valuable  service 
should  mean  permanent  tenure  of  office. 

(3)  Qualifications  for  improvement.  —  Fundamental  quaUfications 
are  capacity  and  determination  to  improve  during  service.  These 
are  the  best  guarantees  of  permanent  efficiency  and  consequent  tenure 
of  office.     Professional  improvement  is  required  of  every  instructor. 

A.  For  improvement  in  farming.  —  Part  of  every  year  each  project 
instructor  is  required  to  do  such  work,  apart  from  his  teaching  of  all- 
day  pupils,  as  shall  give  him  a  better  and  better  mastery  of  those 


270 


VOCATION.\L   AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


branches  of  farming  which  are  practiced  in,  or  which  are  believed  by 
his  advisory  committee  to  be  possible  for,  the  localities  from  which 
his  pupils  are  drawn.     Of  the  annual  period  set  apart  for  duties  of 

professional  improve- 
ment, one  month  is 
generally  devoted  to 
betterment  in  farming. 

B.  For  improvement 
in  teaching.  —  No  in- 
structor can  take  up  his 
duties  prepared  once  for 
all  to  teach  the  relations 
of  science  to  practical 
farming.  New  relations 
are  constantly  being 
found.  Consequently, 
just  as  one  month,  more 
or  less,  a  year  the  proj- 
ect instructor  is  taken 
away  from  boys  and  put 
at  work  \\^th  adult 
farmers,  either  in  his 
locality  or  at  a  distance, 
so  for  a  like  period  every 
year  he  and  the  teacher 
of  "  related  studies  "  are 
taken  away  from  boys 
and  put  with  adult  ex- 
perts in  technical  and 
scientific  agriculture  for  the  express  purpose  of  enriching  the  teaching 
program  with  carefully  selected  or  prepared  exercises  of  obvious  value 
to  their  pupils. 

Men  of  such  maturity  and  of  such  thorough  training  in  practical 
farming  are  required  in  Massachusetts,  that  most  of  the  project  in- 
structors and  supervisors  have  entered  on  their  duties  without 
previous    training   or    experience   in    teaching.      Therefore,    profes- 


Photo.  by  iTUernalional  Film  Service  Inc. 

Fig.  193.  —  Miss  Ruth  Wood,  Essex  County  Agricultural 
School,  who  won  second  in  the  dairy-judging  class  at 
the  National  Dairy  Show  in  Springfield,  Mass.,  in 
competition  with  ninety-seven  boys  representing  ten 
northeastern  states.  She  chose  this  bull-calf  for  her 
prize,  "  Sophie  igth's  Tormentor  loth."  See  her  report 
on  pages  432-434. 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM        271 


sional  improvement  must  generally  include  study  of  principles  and 
methods  of  teaching.  In  a  given  case,  winter  work  on  technical 
agricultural  subject  matter  may  be  combined  with  a  seminar  course 
on  teaching  as  teaching,  —  on  the  "tricks  of  the  teacher's  trade." 
Vocational  agricultural  education  is  one  of  the  newest  fields  of 
education,  and  one  of  the  most  attractive  for  creative  and  con^ 
structive  work  in  preparation  for  better  teaching. 

Teachers  of  non-agricultural  subjects  devote  two  months  in  summer 
to  "  professional  improvement  "  work,  and  divide  their  time  between 
experience  in,  and  agreed-upon  studies  of,  country  life,  including 
study  of  the  home  conditions  of  their  pupils,  on  one  hand,  and,  on  the 


Fig.   194.  —  Comparing  weight  of  cruam  wiih  wciglil  oi  milk.     CoiK-oriJ  Agrii.ulluru.1 

Department. 

Other,  enrichment  of  their  teaching  programs  with  materials  and 
exercises  for  the  development  of  those  tastes  and  aptitudes  which  make 
the  farmer  expert  and  a  gentleman. 

(4)  Agricultural  college  training  is  highly  desirable.  Equivalents 
have  been  approved,  such  as  exceptional  private  study  and  farm  ex- 
perience, and  successful  teaching  has  followed. 

(5)  Lifelong  farm  experience  is  almost  indispensable. 

(6)  Certain  differences  between  schools  and  departments  may  be 
noted,  as  follows : 


272 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


A.    County  school 

(A)  Vocational  aim.  —  The  Board 
of  Education  has  a  voice  in  the  choice 
of  all  teachers  for  the  county  school 


B.   High  school  department 

(A)  Vocational  aim.  —  The  Board 
of  Education  has  a  voice  in  choosing 
only     the     teacher     of     agriculture. 


Fig.  igs. —1  Citing  milk  for  butter  fat.  Babcock  tester  of  fundamental  importance.  Cow 
of  boy  at  right  netted  him  $108,  but  then  nearly  ate  her  head  oS  within  the  year.  His 
record  exposed  her.  Note  nutritive  ratios  on  blackboard.  North  Easton  Agricultural 
Department. 


staff.  This  insures  harmony  of  aims 
on  the  part  of  the  several  instructors 
and  a  cordial  cooperative  spirit  in  the 
staff. 


Cordial  cooperation  between  the  agri- 
cultural instructor  and  other  members 
of  the  high  school  staff  may,  however, 
be  secured  through  the  superintend- 
ent of  schools.  With  him  rests  selec- 
tion of  candidates  for  consideration  by 
the  school  committee,  and  nomina- 
tion for  appointment  of  the  preferred 
candidate   or   candidates.     He    may. 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL  SYSTEM        273 


(B)  Specialization.  —  Specializa- 
tion is  possible  in  almost  any  school. 
A  school  with  an  enrollment  as  low  as 
50  or  60  is  warranted  in  employing  4 
teachers  and  in  choosing  specialists. 


therefore,  provide  in  advance,  through 
his  nomination  of  candidates,  for 
team  work  in  the  high  school  staff  in 
the  interest  of  the  efTiciency  of  each 
of  the  courses  offered  by  the  high 
school,  including  that  in  agriculture. 
(B)  General  adaptability.  —  Spe- 
cialization in  a  department  is  only 
possible  where  the  enrollment  is  such 
as  to  require  two  or  more  instructors. 
Generally,  choice  among  candidates 


Fig.  196.  —  Agricultural  pupils  demonstrating  and  explaining  Babcock  test  before  ele- 
mentary science  class  of  regular  high  school  course.  Such  exercises  promote  interest, 
eflSciency,  and  good  feeling.     North  Easton  Agricultural  Department. 


In  such  a  case  the  qualifications  of 
the  4  specialists  are  such  as  to  safe- 
guard, not  merely  the  proper  execu- 
tion of  school  and  home  projects,  but 
their  well-balanced  study,  with  due 
attention  to  the  non-agricultural,  as 


must  rest  with  a  man  who  is  qualified 
to  teach  the  major  projects  of  the  four 
years'  course  above  outlined.  Expe- 
rience has  proved  that  it  is  possible  to 
find  capable  instructors  of  this  all- 
round  type. 


274 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


well  as  the  agricultural,  education  of 
the  pupils. 

a.  Agricultural. — A  county  school 
is  called  upon  to  serve  the  agricul- 
tural interests  of  the  entire  county,  in- 
cluding those  of  suburban  residents 
who  must,  of  necessity,  restrict  their 
operations  to  such  projects  as  poultry 
keeping  and  gardening.  A  suburban- 
ite who  is  a  graduate  of  an  agricul- 
tural college,  and  who  has  had  four 
calendar  years  of  successful  experience 
in  gardening  and  poultry  keeping, 
may  be  better  qualified  than  candi- 
dates of  lifelong  farm  experience  for 
meeting  the  needs  of  such  people  in 
part-time  or  evening  class  instruction. 
Generally  instructors  of  this  type  may 
be  hired  for  considerably  lower  salaries 
to  begin. 

The  county  school,  with  an  enroll- 
ment of  loo  or  more  pupils,  may  have 
need  of,  not  merely  specialists  as 
heads  of  departments,  but  of  a  con- 
siderable number  of  assistants.  A 
man  may  qualify  for  an  assistantship 
who  could  not  qualify  for  an  instruc- 
torship  in  a  high  school  department, 
because  responsibility  will  be  divided 
between  the  assistant  and  the  head  of 
his  department  for  both  supervision 
and  instruction. 

An  assistant  who  proves  to  be  a 
successful  teacher  may  broaden  his 
field  of  service  year  by  year,  and  thus 
be  able  to  qualify  for  a  position  as 
head  of  a  department  or  as  an  agri- 
cultural instructor  in  a  high  school. 

b.  Non-agricultural.  —  No  teacher 
in  such  non-agricultural  subjects  as 
English  is  selected  who  is  not  qualified 
by  natural  leanings,  and  if  possible  by 
some  practical  experience,  to  appre- 


Not  "  college  boys,"  but  men  of 
maturity  are  generally  demanded. 

Now  and  then  a  mature  man  who 
is  not  an  agricultural  college  graduate, 
but  who  has  developed  the  right  kind 
of  talent,  both  in  the  success  of  his 
practical  farming  and  in  his  powers  of 
presenting  ideas  in  connection  there- 
with, has  qualified  for  an  instructor- 
ship. 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM        275 


MINIMUM    QUALIFICATIONS  OF  PROSPECTIVE   INSTRUCTORS 

For  County  or  Separate  Agricultural  Schools  and 
High  School  Agricultural  Departments 

1 

Specifications 

2 

Farm  Work 
Instructor 

3 

Related  Study 

or  Technical 

Instructor 

4 

Farm  Work  and 

Related  Study 

Instructor 

5 

Non- 
agricultural 
Instructor 

(1)  Age 

A.  Without  suc- 
cessful teaching 
experience. 

21 

21 

21 

No    such  appli- 
cant considered. 

B.  With  success- 
ful teaching 
experience. 

21                             21 

21 

21 

(2)  Farm  experience 

Eight    calendar 
years  under 
farming    condi- 
tions like  those 
in  Massachu- 
setts. 

Two     calendar 
years,   and  va- 
cations   during 
agricultural 
school    or    col- 
lege course. 

Eight   calendar 
years   in   farm- 
ing, if  only 
special   agricul- 
tural      courses 
have  been 
taken ;     .j    cal- 
endar years   in 
farming,    if      2 
years  or  equiv- 
alent in  agricul- ' 
tural  courses 
have  been 
taken. 

Knowledge 
enough  of  farm- 
ing   to    enatile 
the     instructor 
to     understand 
the  aim  of  voca- 
tional    agricul- 
tural education, 
and     a     natural 
inclination 
toward  the  bet- 
terment of 
country  living. 

i3)  Academic  education 

Grammar 
school  graduate 

High  school  or 
agricultural 
school  graduate. 

High  school  or 
agricultural 
school  graduate 

College  or  nor- 
mal school 
graduate 

(4)  Technical  education 

Special    courses 
in  agriculture. 

Two    years    or 
equivalent      in 
agricultural 
courses. 

Two    years    or 
equivalent       in 
agricultural 
courses. 

Courses  in  sub- 
jects to  be 
taught. 

(5)  Professional  education 

Approved 
study  of  home- 
project 
methods  of 
teaching  agri- 
culture. 

Courses  in 
home-project 
methods  of 
teaching  agri- 
culture and  re- 
lated studies. 

Approved 
study  of  home- 
project 
methods  of 
teaching  agri- 
culture and  re- 
lated studies. 

Course   in   ped- 
agogy, and  one 
year  of  succes- 
ful  teaching  ex- 
perience. 

(6)  Personality                          Satisfactory  and  with  presumption  of  ability  to  handle  pupils 

(Personal  inteniew  required.) 

(7)  Physique 

Good  health 
(attested  by 
physician's 
certificate)  and 
no  deformity. 

Good  health 
(attested  by 
physician's 
certificate). 

Good  health 
(attested  by 
physician's 
certificate)  and 
no  deformity. 

Good  health 
(attested  by 
physician's 
certificate). 

(8)  Sex 

Men  only. 

Men  only. 

Men  only.              Men  only. 

Frc. 


ig;.  —  Diagram  of  Minimum  Qualifications  of  Candidates  for  .Agricultural  School 
and  Department  Instructorships  in  Massachusetts. 


276 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTUR.AL   EDUCATION 


ciate  and  to  contribute  through  his 
instruction  to  wholesome  and  pleasant 
country  life. 

(C)  Salary  expectations.  —  Sala- 
ries range  from  S900  upward.  The 
highest  salary  now  being  paid  in  a 
separate  school  to  a  teacher  is  $2000 
a  year. 

(D)  Skill  and  speed.  —  No  man  is 
qualified  to  teach  agriculture  who  is 
not  naturally  interested  in  both  the 
study  and  the  practical  work  involved 
in  the  field  of  his  specialty  or  special- 
ties, and  who  is  not  able  and  willing 
to  lead  his  boys  in  the  practical  execu- 
tion of  projects,  and  to  conduct  prof- 
itable projects  on  the  school  farm. 

(E)  Minimum  qualifications  for 
the  various  instructors  in  a  county 
school  are  listed  on  the  preceding  dia- 
gram. Fig.  197. 


(C)  Salary  expectations.  —  Sala- 
ries of  not  less  than  Si  200  a  year 
must  generally  be  offered  to  begin- 
ners; $2200  a  year  is  the  highest 
salary  now  being  paid  an  experienced 
and  successful  department  teacher. 

(D)  Skill  and  speed.  —  No  man 
can  be  considered  qualified  for  an 
agricultural  instructorship  who  is 
not  a  good  teacher,  and  both  able 
and  willing  to  lead  his  boys  in  their 
practical  work  for  the  purpose  of 
setting  them  a  proper  pace  and  giving 
them  proper  training  for  those  phases 
of  farming  which  require  special  skill. 

(E)  Minimum  qualifications  for 
agricultural  project  instructors  are 
listed  in  column  4  of  the  preceding 
diagram.  Fig.  197. 


Fig.  198.^  Bad  shoulder  at  left.  Too  straight.  Neck  always  sore  in  summer.  Horse 
became  vicious  as  result.  Bad  leg  at  right  not  properly  cared  for.  Smith  School, 
Northampton. 


8.    Methods  of  Instruction 

(i)  Home-project  visitation. — So  far  as  project  teaching  is  con- 
cerned, the  methods  of  instruction  by  supervisory  visitation  of  home 
projects   are   uniform   for   both   schools   and   departments.     These 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM        277 

methods  have  been  described  in  section  6,  in  setting  forth  the  require- 
ments and  advantages  of  the  courses  of  study. 

(2)  Lantern  slides  and  charts,  prepared  by  experts  and  lending  them- 
selves to  vivid  presentation  of  facts  and  principles  of  vital  concern  to 


Fig.  199.  —  Farm  mares  keep  number  good.  One  of  their  promising  colts  at  right.  Center, 
perfect  shoulder.  Excellent  farm  models.  Good  horses  help  good  dairying.  Smith 
School,  Northampton. 

practical  farming,  are  now  available  in  great  abundance.     They  may 
be  bought  or  borrowed,  and  methods  of  instruction  by  which  they  are 
brought  into  use  are  common  to  both  schools  and  departments. 
(3)  The  following  differences  should  be  noted : 


A.    County  school 

(A)  Correlation  controlled.  —  The 
director  of  the  school  has  control  of 
all  teachers,  and  sees  to  it  that 
methods  of  instruction  are  followed 
which  give  each  pupil  a  well-knit  body 
of  knowledge  by  means  of  the  closest 
possible  correlation  of  the  subjects 
studied  with  the  interests  and  activi- 
ties of  efficient  farming  and  well- 
balanced  country  life. 


(B)  Group  instruction  and  indi- 
vidual. —  The  school  laboratories  and 
shops  offer  advantages  superior  to 
those    of    the    rural    high    school  for 


B.  High  school  department 

(A)  Correlation  voluntary  and 
variable.  —  The  agricultural  instruc- 
tor has  no  direct  control  over  methods 
of  instruction  other  than  his  own. 
Though  difficult,  it  is  none  the  less 
desirable  that  he  and  his  superin- 
tendent of  schools  spare  no  pains  in 
showing  other  teachers  the  advan- 
tages and  methods  of  correlation,  and 
in  persuading  them  to  adopt  such 
methods  for  the  good  of  the  agricul- 
tural pupils. 

(B)  Individual  instruction  and 
group.  —  Lack  of  farm  land  and 
limited  agricultural  laboratory  and 
shop  equipment   at   the  high  school 


278 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


group  methods  of  instruction;  con- 
sequently, the  tendenc}'  is  for  instruc- 
tors to  teach  pupils  as  groups. 

The  problem  of  the  county  school 
is  to  adopt  such  methods  as  shall  se- 
cure proper  attention  to  the  pupils  as 
individuals. 

The  school  may  be  expected  to 
excel  principally  in  the  educational 
benefits  which  follow  group  methods. 


(C)  Scientific  and  practical.  —  Ex- 
cellence of  laboratory'  facilities  and 
congestion  of  numbers  not  only  accen- 
tuate the  tendency  toward  adoption 
of  group  methods  of  instruction,  but 


make  group  teaching  difficult  in 
both  the  laboratory  and  the  practical 
aspects  of  the  training  of  agricultural 
department  pupils. 

The  problem  of  the  department  is 
to  develop  its  headquarters  into  a 
combined  study  room  and  agricul- 
tural science  laboratorj-,  and,  at 
school  and  on  neighboring  farms,  to 
provide  for  a  fair  proportion  of  group 
instruction. 

The  department  may  be  expected 
to  excel  principally  in  the  educational 
benefits  which  follow  methods  of  in- 
dividual instruction. 

(C)  Practical  and  scientific.  — 
Lack  of  good  laboratory  facilities  and 
limitation  of  numbers  to  not  more 
than  20  pupils  to  the  instructor  not 
only  accentuate  the  tendency  towards 


Fig.  200.  —  'l'ypi;:>  in  demand  for  mounts.  Blue-ribbon  thoroughljrcd  hunter,  •'Moun- 
taineer," at  left.  Heavy  Irish  hunter  at  right.  Saddle  and  draft  types  contrasted 
same  day.    Longwater  Farms,  North  Easton  Agricultural  Department. 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM 


279 


also  tend  to  overemphasize  the  scien- 
tific aspects  of  the  education  of  the 
pupils.  Another  problem  of  the 
school,  therefore,  is  to  see  to  it  that 
its  methods  of  instruction  shall  not  be 
.too  much  scientific  and  too  little 
practical. 

(D)  School  and  home  farm.  — 
The  school  farm  with  its  illustrative 
and  trial  projects  tends  to  focus  the 
attention  and  to  engross  the  energies 


individual  methods  of  instruction, 
but  also  tend  to  overemphasize  the 
practical  aspects  of  the  education  of 
the  pupils.  Another  problem  of  the 
department,  therefore,  is  to  see  to  it 
that  its  methods  of  instruction  shall 
not  be  too  much  practical  and  too 
little  scientific. 

(Dj  Home  farm  and  department. 
—  The  department  has  no  extensive 
farming  operations  on  its  premises, 
and  no  congestion  of  numbers  with 


Fig.  201.  —  Studying  the  draft  type.  Imported  Clydesdale  stallion.  Pure  bred  "  Clyde" 
colts  in  background.  Note  use  of  score  cards.  All  field  trips  are  carefully  planned  and 
results  are  checked  up.     Longvvater  Farms.     North  Easton  Agricultural  Department. 


of  both  instructors  and  pupils  on 
teaching  at  the  school.  This  tend- 
ency is  further  accentuated  by  con- 
gestion of  numbers,  particularly  when 
village  and  city  boys  with  work  pro- 
vided for  them  at  the  school  constitute 
a  considerable  part  of  the  enrollment. 

The  school  cannot  evade  the  rea- 
sonable expectation  of  the  public  that 
its  farm,  in  all  phases  of  its  work, 
shall  be  a  model  of  profitable  methods, 
not  only  for  its  pupils,  but  also  for 
the  countryside. 

Distance  between  the  school  and 
the  scattered  homes  of  its  pupils  who 
live  on  farms  tends  to  exalt  economy 


a  considerable  proportion  of  village 
and  city  boys  to  contend  with. 

Its  fundamental  requirement  is 
that  all  applicants  prior  to  their 
admission  must  make  arrangements 
for  projects,  or  acceptable  substitutes, 
at  or  near  home. 

Distances  are  short  for  both  pupils 
and  instructor. 

Thus  the  interest  of  both  instruc- 
tor and  pupils  tends  to  be  not  centrip- 
etal, but  centrifugal,  —  not  inward 
toward  things  done  at  school  so  much 
as  outward  toward  the  separate  proj- 
ect and  substitute  for  project  respon- 
sibilities which  are  being  carried  by 


28o 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


the  individual  pupils  at,  or  near,  their 
several  homes. 

Methods  of  instruction  in  further- 
ance of  this  outward  and  distributive 
tendency,  by  which  knowledge  and 
skill  gained  at  the  department  are. 
put  at  once  to  work  on  home  farms 
by  the  pupils  throughout  the  farming 
section  tributary  to  the  high  school, 
have  the  heartiest  approval  of  the 
Massachusetts  Board  of  Education. 

For  this  type  of  department  no 
methods  not  in  keeping  with  those 
just  mentioned  will  be  approved  by 
the  Board  as  either  efficient  or  eco- 
nomical. 


of  supervision  above  the  home  farm 
efficiency  of  the  pupils. 

The  tendency  to  center  study  and 
work  on  the  school  farm  and  to  exalt 
its  successes  is  but  natural. 

Consequently  the  supreme  problem 
of  the  school  is  to  adopt  methods  of 
instruction  which  shall  insure  model 
farming  at  the  school,  but  at  the  same 
time  make  this  but  a  means  to  the 
best  possible  farming  of  its  pupils  at 
their  several  homes.  And  in  worliing 
out  this  problem  the  distant  home 
must  have  equal  consideration,  week 
by  week,  with  the  home  that  is  near. 

No  methods  of  instruction  not  in 
keeping  with  those  indicated  in  the 
last  paragraph  will  be  approved  by 
the  Board  of  Education  as  either 
economical  or  efficient  for  this  type 
of  school  in  Massachusetts. 


9.    Conditions  of  Admission 

Conditions  governing  the  admission  of  pupils  are  uniform  for  both 
school  and  department. 

(i)  Age  restrictions.  A.  Fourteenth  birthday.  —  No  pupil  may 
be  admitted  until  he  has  passed  his  fourteenth  birthday.  No  pupil 
"  who  does  not  possess  such  ability  to  read,  write,  and  spell  in  the 
English  language  as  is  required  for  the  completion  of  the  fourth 
grade  of  the  public  schools  of  the  city  or  town  in  which  he  resides  " 
may  be  admitted.     (See  Revised  Laws,  chapter  44,  section  i.) 

B.  Sixteenth  birthday  in  some  cases.  —  No  pupil  may  be  admitted 
to  an  evening  class  until  after  he  has  passed  his  sixteenth  birthday. 

C.  Twenty-fifth  birthday  in  some  cases.  —  No  pupil  may  attend 
an  all-day  or  a  part-time  class  after  he  has  reached  his  twenty-fifth 
birthday.^ 

(2)  Good  character.  —  Vocational  education  is  not  reform  schooling. 

Only  pupils  of  good  character  are  admitted. 

'  This  top  limit  has  been  removed  by  the  Legislature  for  the  period  of  the  present  war 
with  Germany  and  for  one  year  thereafter. 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM       281 


(3)  Career  motive.  —  Vocational  agricultural  education  fits  for  the 
"  occupations  connected  with  the  tillage  of  the  soil,  the  care  of  domestic 
animals,  forestry,  or  other  wage- 
earning  or  productive  work  on  the 
farm."  These  occupations  are 
held  to  include  productive  work  on 
general  farms,  on  highly  specialized 
farms,  in  market  gardens,  in  green- 
houses, in  parks  and  cemeteries,  in 
ornamental  planting  required  by 
larger  or  smaller  estates, and  even  on 
restricted  areas  which  permit  only  of 
such  small  operations  as  the  keeping 
of  a  pen  of  poultry  or  the  making 
of  a  home  garden.  Only  those  who 
intend  to  prepare  themselves  for 
these  occupations  are  admitted. 

(4)  Physique.  —  For  centuries  farming  has  been,  in  most  cases,  a 
family  enterprise,  with  a  multitude  of  duties  and  tasks  suited  to  all 
ages,  to  both  sexes,  to  the  big  and  to  the  little,  and  to  varied  degrees 


Fig.  202.  —  School  colt  and  boy  who  cared 
for  her.     See  Fig.  203. 


Fig.  203.  —  The  same  colt  as  two-year-old,  and  the  boy  who  trained  her  to  drive. 
Bristol  County  Agricultural  School. 


282 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


of  health  this  side  of  complete  physical  incapacity.  To-day  in 
Massachusetts  farming  is,  in  the  main,  a  calling  for  men,  and  is  de- 
pendent for  success  upon  strength  and  vigor.  As  a  rule,  only  appli- 
cants of  good  health  and  rugged  physique  are  encouraged  to  under- 
take the  responsibiUties  of  a  four  years'  course. 

(5)  Facilities  for  home  projects  or  acceptable  substitutes.  —  Re- 
quirements for  admission  to  vocational  agricultural  courses  may  be 
said  to  be  practical  rather  than  academic.     Each  applicant  must, 


Fig.  204.  —  New  plank  frame  barn.     Construction  keenly  studied  by  pupils, 
bam  was  built  by  contract.     Bristol  County  .Agricultural  School. 


But 


prior  to  approval  for  entrance,  establish  a  fair  presumption  that  he 
will  profit  from  the  instruction.  To  this  end  it  must  be  shown  that 
he  will  have  opportunities  for  productive  agricultural  employment, 
at  home  or  elsewhere,  throughout  his  proposed  period  of  training. 

(6)  Non-resident  Pupils.  —  A  pupil  from  a  town,  city,  or  county 
that  does  not  maintain  an  agricultural  school  or  department  which 
gives  the  type  of  training  desired  may,  with  the  approval  of  the  State 
Board  of  Education,  be  admitted  to  the  agricultural  school  or  depart- 
ment of  his  choice ;  and  his  tuition,  at  a  rate  fijced  by  the  Board  of 
Education,  must  be  paid  by  his  home  town  or  city.     His  town  or  city, 


MASSACHUSETTS   NQ-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM        283 

in  turn,  is  reimbursed  by  the  State  to  the  amount  of  one-half  the  sum 
paid  for  his  tuition.  Thus  all  towns  and  cities  share  equitably  in  both 
expense  and  state-aid,  and  all  residents  eligible  for  admission  may 
share  and  share  nearly  ahke  in  the  benefits  of  this  kind  of  education. 

ID.   Employment  of  Pupils 

Vocational  agricultural  education  establishes  such  a  vital  contact 
between  study  and  work  that  it  is  impossible  to  approve  a  pupil's 
instruction  in  one  without  consideration  of  the  other. 

(i)  Approved  employment.  —  Since  approval  of  the  employment  of 
pupils  rests  with  the  Board  of  Education,  the  Board  has  laid  down 


Fig.  205.  —  Agricultural  pupils  erect  minor  structures.     Building  a  tool  and  wagon 
shed.     Learning  to  do  by  doing.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 

certain  principles  and  regulations  by  which  it  is  governed  in  its  ap- 
proval of  employment. 

A.  Agricultural  versus  non-agricultural  employment.  —  As  a  check 
upon  the  "  career  motive  "  of  the  pupil,  instructors  are  required  to 
report  upon  the  non-agricultural,  as  well  as  the  agricultural,  employ- 
ment of  their  pupils.  If  the  non-agricultural  employment  were  to 
predominate,  there  would  be  serious  question  as  to  the  propriety  of 
retaining  a  pupil  in  an  agricultural  class.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
ratio,  on  the  average,  of  agricultural  to  non-agricultural  employment 


284 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


has  been  so  much  in  favor  of  agriculture  as  to  indicate  that  proper 
precautions  have  been  observed  in  choosing  for  admission  pupils 
who  seriously  intend  to  follow  agricultural  careers. 


Fig.  206.  —  Best  systems  of  crop  rotation  and  farm  management  are  taught.  Plans  of 
their  own  farms  and  of  other  farms,  like  the  above,  are  drawn  to  scale.  Instructor 
Doolittle  has  adapted  quick  and  simple  military  mapping  to  farm  needs.  The  above 
plan  was  drawn  by  a  pupil  from  a  sketch  made  with  a  stiff  notebook  cover,  a  foot  ruler, 
a  pocket  compass,  a  so  ft.  tape,  and  squared  paper.  The  farm  roads  were  in  red  ink. 
Concord  Agricultural  Department. 

B.  Routine  versus  educational  agricultural  employment.  —  As  a 
check  upon  mere  farm  "  chores  "  or  mere  "  gang  labor  "  in  farming, 
the  instructors  are  required  to  report  not  only  upon  the  projects  or 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM        285 


substitutes  for  projects  which  the  pupils  have  carefully  planned  and 
are  studying,  but  also  upon  their  other  farm  work.  All  projects 
and  substitutes  for  projects  are  agreed  upon  in  advance.  This  has 
been  made  clear  by  the  foregoing  discussion  of  courses  of  study. 
Employment  records  are  the  basis  of  final  approval,  and  are  evidence 
that  the  educational  bargains  entered  into  by  pupils  and  parents,  or 
employers,  on  one  hand,  and  the  school  on  the  other,  have  been  kept. 
C.  Work  versus  recreation.  —  The  pupil's  right  to  a  reasonable 
amount  of  time  for  recreation  is   recognized.     For  the  light   they 


Fig.  207.  —  Dairy  and  cash  crop  projects  go  well  together.  Home  projects  of  this  boy, 
one  cow  and  f  acre  potatoes.  Farm  earnings.'from  farm  work  and  projects,  $220.13. 
Petersham  Agricultural  Department. 

throw  on  the  career  motives  of  the  pupils,  and  for  the  help  they  give 
in  balancing  up  their  activities,  the  instructors  are  requested  to  keep 
records  of  the  amount  of  time  devoted  to  recreation  and  of  the  kinds 
of  recreation  followed.  Such  records  are  expected  to  throw  some 
light  upon  the  happy  solution  of  the  problem  of  making  the  country 
a  pleasant,  as  well  as  a  profitable,  place  of  abode.  The  vocational 
acti\aties  of  the  pupils,  however,  so  far  predominate  as  almost  to 
warrant  the  inference  that  playing  the  man  in  carrying  out  produc- 
tive farm  enterprises  leaves  relatively  little  time  and  less  desire  for 
such  activities  as  those  of  the  city  or  village  playground. 


286 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


D.  Pupils  on  farms  versus  other  farm  workers.  —  The  right  of 
pupils  to  a  decent  place  of  employment  is  recognized.  In  approving 
projects  away  from  home,  or  substitutes  for  projects,  care  is  taken 
that  the  conditions  under  which  the  pupils  are  to  work  shall  be  whole- 
some. The  county  school,  especially,  is  careful  to  employ  the  best 
farm  help  obtainable,  because  of  the  close  association  of  pupils  with 
other  members  of  the  working  staff.  Boys  need  to  be  taught  high 
standards  as  to  farm  help  no  less  than  as  to  farm  products.     Because, 


t^0^ 


Fig.  208.  —  Mangels  for  succulent  winter  feed  for  dairy  cows  in  home  project.     Grown 
because  boy  has  no  silo  yet.     Petersham  Agricultural  Department. 

however,  learning  how  to  work  with  farm  help  is  not  less  important 
for  the  boy  who  does  not  expect  always  to  be  a  wheelbarrow  or  a  one- 
horse  farmer,  than  is  learning  how  to  handle  land  or  live-stock,  boys 
would  better  be  taught  farming  shoulder  to  shoulder,  at  least  part  of 
the  time,  with  average  farm  laborers,  than  to  be  kept  too  much  by 
themselves. 

E.   Employment    adjustments    by    schools    and    departments.  — 
There  are  certain  marked  differences  between  the  school  and  the 
department,  with  reference  to  the  approved  employment  of  agricul- 
tural pupils.     They  may  be  listed  as  follows : 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY  SCHOOL  SYSTEM       287 

(A)  County  school  (B)  High  school  department 

a.   Fifty-week  year.  —  The  school  a.   Forty  -  week         year.  —  High 

farm     is     in     continuous     operation       school    agricultural    departments,    as 


Fig.  2og.  —  Pupil  mowing  second  cutting  of  alfalfa.     Each  boy  is  given  a  full  round  of 
farm  training.     Bristol  County  Agricultural  School. 


throughout  the  calendar  year. 
Where  most  of  the  work  is  done  by 
pupils,  there  are  generally  pupils  at 


a  rule,  have  no  land  and  no  live-stock. 
They  are  in  session,  from  the  agricul- 
tural point  of  view,  only  when   the 


Fig.  210.  —  Curing  the  second  cutting  of  alfalfa  on  the  school  farm.     A  very  successful 
crop  here.     A  part  of  the  school  dairy  project.    Bristol  County  Agricultural  School. 


288 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


the  school  throughout  the  calendar 
year.  Certain  study  time  and. vaca- 
tion   divisions,    however,    from    the 


agricultural  instructor  is  on  duty. 
As  a  rule,  the  agricultural  instructor 
is    on    duty    from     March     i     until 


Fig.  211.  —  Raking  a  good  crop  of  limuthy.     This  city  boy  from  Fall  River  wants  to  be 
a  farmer  and  is  learning  how  to  do  by  doing.    Bristol  County  Agricultural  School. 


point  of  view  of  the  individual  pupil, 
may  be  noted,  as  follows : 


Thanksgiving,  a  period  of  forty 
weeks. 

Occasionally,  a  special  instructor 
is  employed  during  the  winter  to  give 
a  three  months'  course  in  farm-shop 
work  or  in  such  subjects  as  farm  arith- 
metic and  accounts.  When  this  in- 
struction is  approved  as  vocational, 
the  school  year  of  the  department  is 
lengthened  to  approximately  fifty 
weeks. 

The  study  time  and  vocation  divi- 
sions of  a  department  are  generally 
as  follows : 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DOR^IITORY    SCHOOL   SYSTEM        289 


(a)  Study  time.  —  The  classroom 
instruction  generall)'  begins  in  Sep- 
tember, ends  in  June,  and  covers  a 
period  of  about  thirty-six  weeks. 
The  summer  is  thus  left  free  for  the 
heavy  outdoor  farming  operations  in 
which  pupils  participate  at  their 
homes  or  elsewhere.     In  some  ways, 


(a)  Study  time.  —  The  high  school 
generally  opens  earlj'  in  September 
and  closes  late  in  June.  Agricultural 
pupils  generally  enter  in  September, 
are  with  the  agricultural  instructor 
until  Thanksgiving,  resume  work 
with  him  March  i,  and  continue  to 
be  given  class  instruction  by  him  until 


tiG.   212.  --  Putling  llu-  timothy  under  cover.     The  shadows  are  lengthening,  and  there  are 
no  laggards  among  these  boys  and  their  instructors.    Bristol  County  Agricultural  School. 


of  course,  the  summer  is  the  best  time 
for  study  of  the  whole  year,  particu- 
larly in  connection  with  plant  projects. 
To  stimulate  non-classroom  study, 
pupils  are  called  together  from  time 
to  time  for  obser\-ation  and  practice 
work  connected  with  the  seasonal 
progress  of  field,  garden,  and  orchard 
projects.  Keen  observation  and  care- 
ful study  are  further  stimulated  by 
u 


the  close  of  the  high  school  in  June. 
Projects  are  planned  which  run 
throughout  the  summer  and  are 
supervised  by  the  instructor.  In 
some  ways  the  summer  is  the  most 
profitable  study  period  of  the  year. 
Pupils  are  brought  together  occasion- 
ally for  group  instruction,  but  for 
the  most  part  are  taught  individu- 
ally.    This    applies     both     to     their 


290 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


the  supervisor}'  visits  of  the  in- 
structors to  the  individual  pupils,  at 
their  homes  or  other  places  of  agri- 
cultural employment. 


(b)  Vacation  time.  —  The  study 
time  is  divided  into  three  terms,  sepa- 
rated at  Christmas  and  Easter  by 
brief  vacations.  A  total  of  approxi- 
mately  three  weeks  a   year    may   be 


observational  training  and  to  their 
practice  work.  Thus  the  school 
year  of  the  agricultural  department 
pupil  generally  covers  forty  weeks, 
of  which  the  time  set  apart  for  agri- 
cultural study  at  the  school  covers 
about   twenty-eight. 

(b)  Vacation  time.  —  Agricultural 
pupils,  as  a  rule,  either  take  special 
high  school  subjects  three  months 
during  the  winter,  or  are  taught 
vocational  agricultural  subjects  three 


i'lG.  213.  —  L se  land  lor  blackboard.  Good  looking  ears,  "crib  selected,"  were  planted  on 
this  test  plot.  Germination  test  omitted.  Common  farm  practice.  All  kernels  from 
one  mother  ear,  in  one  row ;  all  from  another,  in  the  next ;  etc.  Cabbages  interplanted 
where  corn  failed  to  grow,  to  keep  land  working.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 


said  to  be  reserved  for  vacations  of 
pupils.  Where  pupils  are  employed 
at  the  school,  vacations  must  be  so 
adjusted  as  to  safeguard  the  routine 
work  of  the  school. 


months.  Thus  their  vacation  time 
during  the  school  3'ear  generally  cor- 
responds to  that  of  the  regular  high 
school  pupils. 

Occasionally  a  pupil,  hard  worked 
at  home  during  the  summer,  and  early 
and  late  daily  during  term  time, 
prefers  a  half-vacation  during  the 
winter  absence  of  his  agricultural 
instructor,  and  comes  to  the  high 
school  only  half  the  day  to  continue 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM 


291 


-^  y. 


ir. 


Y 


2   2 


292 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTUR.\L  EDUCATION 


b.  Six-hour  day. —  The  home-proj- 
ect plan  which,  as  has  been  stated 
before,  is  a  no-dormitory  plan,  and 
which,  accordingly,  enables  pupils, 
almost  without  exception,  to  live  at 
home  throughout  the  year,  restricts 
the  amount  of  time  which  may  be 
claimed  from  the  pupils  for  class  in- 
struction at  the  school. 

Generally,  however,  pupils  are  able 
to  look  after  their  live-stock  projects 
in  the  morning  and  arrive  at  school  by 
9  o'clock.  They  are  also  able  to  re- 
main at  the  school  until  4  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  and  still  reach  home 
in  time  to  attend  to  their  live-stock 
projects  at  night.  When  plant  proj- 
ects require  more  time  at  home  the 
entire  day  is  spent  there,  or  a  half 
day,  when  the  instructor  in  charge  of 
the  project  of  a  given  pupil  so  directs. 

Practice  work  on  projects  of  the 
school  is  done  in  school  hours. 


without  interruption  the  high  school 
subjects  upon  which  he  has  entered 
and  which  he  is  desirous  of  complet- 
ing with  the  regular  high  school  pupils. 

Occasionally,  again,  graduates  of 
high  schools  enter  the  agricultural 
department  as  part-time  pupils,  tak- 
ing nothing  but  agriculture.  They 
sometimes  prefer  to  devote  their 
entire  time  during  the  winter  to  farm 
work.  This  is  not  for  them,  by  any 
means,  a  three  months'  vacation  in 
the  ordinary  sense  of  the  term ;  it  is 
time  which  they  are  at  liberty  to 
spend   awa}'   from    the    high   school. 

Pupils  sometimes  spend  these 
winter  months  in  a  short  course  at 
Massachusetts  Agricultural  College, 
specializing  in  some  department  such 
as  the  dairy  or  the  greenhouse. 

b.  Three-hour  day.  —  The  agri- 
cultural department  does  not  claim, 
as  does  the  school,  the  entire  school 
time  of  the  pupil.  It  is  entitled  to 
only  one-half  of  the  regular  high 
school  day  in  the  case  of  any  given 
bo)-.  In  some  high  schools  there  is 
a  single  session.  The  Board  of  Edu- 
cation is  advising  two  sessions.  An 
agricultural  department  cannot  count 
upon  more  than  three  hours  a  day  of 
school  time.  The  younger  pupils  are 
usually  taught  in  a  group  one-half 
the  day,  and  the  older  pupils  in  a 
group  the  other  half.  The  depart- 
ment, therefore,  generally  is  in  session 
six  hours  a  day,  but  the  individual 
pupil  is  accountable  to  it  for  only 
three. 

The  nearness  of  the  homes  of  the 
pupils  to  the  high  school  makes  it 
easily  possible  for  the  agricultural 
pupils  to  do  the  necessary  work  with 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM        293 


c.  Supplementary  time.  —  The 
six-hour  day  in  school  is  supple- 
mented by  whatever  time  is  required 
out  of  school,  including  the  growing 
and  harvesting  seasons,  for  the  suc- 
cessful execution  of  projects,  or  sub- 
stitutes for  projects,  agreed  upon. 

d.  Certain  percentages  of  the  en- 
tire time  allotment  of  pupils  men- 
tioned in  the  discussion  of  approved 
"  organization  "  and  "  courses  of 
study  "  are  required,  as  follows: 


their  live-stock  projects  in  the  morn 
ing  and  still  be  at  school  on  time, 
whatever  the  opening  time  of  the  high 
school  may  be ;  and  after  the  close 
of  the  high  school  day  there  is  ample 
time  for  doing  the  afternoon  work  on 
the  live-stock  projects.  When  plant 
projects  require  more  time  than  that 
available  before  and  after  school,  the 
half  day  which  belongs  to  the  agri- 
cultural department  is  spent  at  home. 
It  is  understood  that  in  an  emergency 
the  entire  day  may  be  spent  at  home 
without  subjecting  the  pupil  to  high 
school  discipline.  The  group  plan  of 
teaching  is  intended  to  obviate  the 
necessity,  except  under  the  most  criti- 
cal conditions,  of  taking  a  boy  away 
from  non-agricultural  classes.  When- 
ever a  crisis  arises  the  agricultural 
instructor  is  scrupulous  about  mak- 
ing arrangements  in  advance  with 
other  teachers  for  excusing  the  boys 
from  high  school  subjects  to  work 
upon  their  projects.  Emergencies 
rarely  arise  which  cannot  be  met 
within  the  time  which  properly  be- 
longs to  the  agricultural  department. 
Where  a  department  has  land, 
practice  work  on  the  projects  of  a 
department  is  done  in  school  hours. 

c.  Supplementary  time.  —  The 
three-hour  day  in  school  is  supple- 
mented by  whatever  time  is  required 
out  of  school,  including  the  growing 
and  harvesting  seasons,  for  the  suc- 
cessful execution  of  projects,  or  sub- 
stitutes for  projects,  agreed  upon. 

d.  Certain  percentages  of  the  en- 
tire time  allotment  of  pupils  above 
mentioned  in  the  discussion  of  "  or- 
ganization "  and  "  courses  of  study  " 
are  as  follows : 


k 


294 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


(a)  Fifty  per  cent  of  time  for  proj- 
ect study  and  project  work. 

(b)  Thirty  per  cent  of  time  for  "  re- 
lated stud}-." 

(c)  Twenty  per  cent  of  time  for 
non-agricultural  study. 


(a)  Fifty  per  cent  of  time  for 
project .studjs  "related  study"  and 
project  work.     This  is  required. 

(b)  Fifty  per  cent  of  time  for  non- 
agricultural  study.  This  is  optional 
with  the  pupil. 


F.  School  records  of  employment  of  the  indi\ddual  pupils  are 
kept.  These  are  used  in  part  as  a  basis  for  the  approval  of  a  school 
or  department  for  state  aid.  They  conform  closely  to  those  required 
in  other  branches  of  vocational  education,  show  the  kind  of  experience 


Fig.  2i6.  —  "Corn  is  King"  for  the  Massachusetts  dairyman.  For  class  selecting  mother 
ears  and  preparing  germination  tests  for  second  season  of  com  improvement  project, 
see  Fig.  242.  Here  checking  up  germination  test.  Strong  ear,  100%,  right.  Weak  ear, 
left,  will  not  be  used  for  planting.     Concord  .Agricultural  Department. 

gained,  the  "  time  factor  "  and  the  "  balance  of  training,"  and  may  be 
listed  as  follows : 

(A)  Study  records,  of  course,  are  kept  by  the  instructors.  These 
include  the  standing  of  pupils  from  day  to  day  in  both  agricultural 
and  non-agricultural  subjects. 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM        295 


(B)  Daily  and  monthly  time,  temperature,  weather,  and  account 
sheets  are  kept  by  the  pupils  on  forms  approved  by  the  Board 
of  Education.  The  project  accounts  and  reports  required  by  the 
Board  of  Education  on  farm  and  non-farm  earnings  are  based 
upon  items  Hsted  daily  and  summarized  at  least  once  a  month  by 
each  pupil.  Column  rulings  or  code  devices  are  adopted  which  show 
what  items  are  cash  and  what  are  credits  for  work  or  products  in  lieu 
of  cash. 

(C)  Photographic  records  showing  conditions  under  which  their 
pupils  are  working  and  indicating  their  progress  are  made  by  the 


Fig.  217.  —  Flint  corn,  ear-row  test.     Yields  from  dilTerent  mother  ears  noted  and  seed 
ears  selected  prior  to  cutting.     Breeding  up.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 

instructors.     These  records  are  valuable  in  all  cases,  and  particularly 
so  in  connection  with  products  which  are  perishable. 

(D)  Farm-practice  sheets  are  kept.  These  show  the  kinds  of  farm 
work  in  which  the  individual  pupils  have  become  skilled.  A  single 
large  sheet  has  been  approved.  On  this  at  a  glance  may  be  seen  the 
degrees  of  operative  eflEiciency  with  which  the  individual  pupil  has 
been  credited  by  his  various  farm- work  instructors.  When  pupils 
are  admitted,  they  are  asked  to  rate  themselves  on  this  sheet,  in  a 
column  reserved  for  this  purpose,  in  the  kinds  of  farm  work  which 
they  claim  to  have  done ;  but  their  ratings  by  the  school  or  depart- 
ment are  based  solely  on  details  of  farm  work  which  instructors  have 
reviewed  or  taught.     These  sheets  meet  the  general  requirement  of 


296 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


the  Board  of  Education  that  state-aided  schools  shall  keep  "  trade 
or  occupational  records." 

(E)  Life  history  cards  are  part  of  the  general  requirements  of 
the  Board  of  Education.  The  blanks  are  approved  by  the  Board 
of  Education,  and  are  kept  in  proper  files  for  ready  and  per- 
manent reference.  They  show  statistical  facts  desired,  have  ap- 
propriate sections  for  annual  summaries  of  the  study  and  work 
records,  spaces  for  recording  reports  on  schooling  before  entrance. 


rrF,%''  ■'' 


Br" ' w  r^ II*-  -Oi  \HyvaH*/i     m*   %    \  *  • 


''•*v"V^-''*'.>~._ii,  -^  £ 


Fig.  218.  —  Corn  roots.  Excavation  near  corn  hills.  Roots  gently  washed  out.  Plain 
enough  why  cultivation  should  be  level  and  shallow.  "Related  Study"  exercise. 
Essex  County  School. 

and  of  employment  for  five  years  after  withdrawal  and  place- 
ment at  work,  of  each  pupil  who  has  been  trained  by  a  school  or 
department. 

(2)  Employment  honors.  —  To  give  zest  to,  and  public  recognition 
of,  capable  agricultural  school  employment,  the  following  mementos 
of  success  are  provided  : 

A.  Prizes  offered  by  the  State  through  the  Board  of  Agriculture, 
by  local  agricultural  fairs,  and  by  other  interested  associations  and 
individuals,  may  be  won  by  pupils.  Some  of  these  are  awarded  for 
excellence  in  judging  farm  animals  or  other  farm  products;  others, 
for  farm  products  grown  by  the  pupils. 


MASSACHUSETTS    NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM        297 

B.  Certificates  are  given  pupils  on  creditable  completion  of  short 
courses.  These  may  be  either  typewritten  or  specially  printed 
forms.  In  either  case  they  show  exactly  what  agricultural  training 
the  individual  pupil  has  received. 

C.  Diplomas,  which  compare  favorably  with  those  given  by  other 
schools  for  pupils  fourteen  years  of  age  and  older,  are  awarded  those 
who  complete  satisfactorily  the  regular  four-year  agricultural  courses. 
These  diplomas   are  not   conferred   in    June,  but  at  Thanksgiving 


Fig.  219.  —  Freshmen  ridding  seed  corn  breeding  plot  of  smut.     Not  only  land,  but 
corn  itself  must  be  kept  clean.     Hadley  Agricultural  Department. 

after  the  projects  of  the  fourth  summer  have  been  completed  and 
reported  upon. 

(3)  Agricultural  employment  bureau  service  is  rendered  the  agri- 
cultural pupils  b}^  the  schools  and  departments,  both  during  their 
years  of  training  and  after  withdrawal  or  graduation.  The  demand 
for  them  is  much  greater  than  can  yet  be  met  by  the  annual  output 
of  young  men  well  trained  for  farming. 

(4)  Supervision  of  employment  by  the  local  agricultural  instruc- 
tors and  by  the  agricultural  representative  of  the  Board  of  Education 
is  thorough  and  businesslike,  both  during  the  courses  of  training  and, 
where   possible,   after   withdrawal   or   graduation.     Preparation    for 


Fig.  220.  —  Boys  haul  the  concentrates  and  fill  the  silos.  A  county  school  with  complete 
farming  equipment  affords  a  limited  group  of  city  and  village  boys  good  farm  training. 
But  numbers  must  be  kept  small,  or  drive  and  efficiency  will  be  lost.  Bristol  County 
Agricultural  School. 

298 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM        299 

profitable  farming  is  a  lifelong  undertaking.  Some  of  the  best  in- 
struction is  given  after  a  pupil  has  been  rated  a  graduate,  by  the  local 
itinerant  agricultural  teacher.     Records  kept  follow : 

A.  Local  triplicate  memorandum  blanks  are  used  by  the  instructors 
in  their  weekly  or  more  frequent  supervision.  Observations  made 
and  the  instruction  given  are  entered  by  the  instructor,  and  are  re- 
ceipted for  by  the  person  visited.  One  copy  is  left  with  the  latter, 
one  copy  is  placed  properly  indexed  in  the  school  file,  and  the  third 
copy  may  be  retained  by  the  instructor.  If  the  instructor  does  not 
care  for  a  personal  file,  duplicate,  instead  of  triplicate,  blanks  are  ap- 
proved. Each  blank  bears  the  name  of  the  school  or  department, 
and  the  name  of  the  instructor,  his  address,  and  his  telephone  number. 
See  one  of  these  blanks  in  Fig.  303  on  page  427. 

B.  State  supervision  blanks  are  provided  by  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion. On  these  are  entered  the  complete  employment  responsibilities 
of  the  individual  pupils  for  a  given  year.  They  are  filled  out  by 
the  local  agricultural  instructors,  are  filed  with  the  state  supervisor 
of  agricultural  education  not  later  than  April  15  of  each  year,  and 
are  used  by  him  for  recording  his  impressions  of  the  efficiency 
of  instruction  as  he  inspects  the  work  of  the  pupils  during  the 
growing  and  harvesting  seasons.  The  front  of  such  a  blank  is 
shown  on  page  453,  filled  out  for  a  pupil  but  with  the  pupil's  name 
omitted. 

C.  Advisory  committee  supervision.  — Advisory  committees  often 
feel  that  their  best  insight  into  courses  of  study,  methods  of  instruc- 
tion, and  qualifications  of  teachers  is  gained  by  accompanying  in- 
structors and  the  agricultural  representative  of  the  Board  of  Education 
when  they  inspect  the  employment  of  pupils.  And  it  is  certain  that 
some  of  the  most  valuable  service  of  advisory  committee  members 
has  grown  out  of  their  personal  observation  of  the  pupils  when  engaged 
in  their  farming  operations. 

D.  Deputy  commissioner's  supervision.  —  The  deputy  commis- 
sioner in  charge  of  state-aided  vocational  education  makes  an  annual 
inspection  of  the  employment  of  agricultural  pupils,  and  more  fre- 
quent inspections  of  schools  or  departments  selected  for  special  atten- 
tion from  time  to  time. 


300 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


E.  Commissioner's  supervision.  —  Occasionally  the  Commissioner 
of  Education  makes  a  tour  of  inspection,  choosing  schools  or  depart- 
ments which,  for  one  reason  or  another,  he  desires  to  give  personal 
attention. 

F.  Board  of  Education's  supervision.  —  Committee  and  individual 
inspections  of  the  employment  of  pupils  by  members  of  the  Board  of 
Education  can  sometimes  be  counted  upon. 

(5)  Blanks,  files,  and  photographic  supplies,  proposed  or  approved 
by  the  Board  of  Education  for  local  records  of  employment,  must  be 
furnished  by  the  school  or  department  which  desires  state  aid. 

(6)  Employment  reports  to  the  Board  of  Education,  including  the 
earnings  of  each  pupil  separately  Hsted,  are  required  annually  on 
November  15.     Blanks  for  these  reports  are  provided  by  the  Board. 


Fig.  221.  —  Ernest  Hitchcock  feeding  "balanced  ration"  and  cost-accounting  every  cow 
at  home.  Graduate  of  academy  who  returned  part-time  for  agriculture  when  Agri- 
cultural Department  opened.     See  Fig.  222.     Brimfield  Agricultural  Department. 


II. 


Conclusion 

There  are  other  requirements  and  advantages  of  particular  impor- 
tance to  the  Board  of  Education  in  Massachusetts.  Only  those  which 
may  be  suggestive  to  those  responsible  for  vocational  agricultural 
teaching  or  supervision  elsewhere  have  been  given  in  this  chapter. 


MASSACHUSETTS   NO-DORMITORY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM        301 

Good  results  have  been  achieved  from  the  beginning ;  better  and 
better  results,  as  the  years  have  passed.  It  is  believed  that  the  close 
of  the  first  ten-year  period  may  safely  be  punctuated  by  the  state- 
ment that  the  Massachusetts  plan  of  vocational  agricultural  education 


Fig.  222.  —  Hitchcock  cost-accounting,  at  date  of  these  photographs,  every  cow  on  this 
farm,  also,  —  16  cows  in  herd.  Owner  paid  for  this  work.  Owner  was  progressive  — 
note  silo ;  but  for  first  time  knew  each  cow  when  Hitchcock  gave  him  figures.  Brimfield 
Agricultural  Department. 

will  justify  itself  from  every  reasonable  point  of  view,  and  will 
prove  to  possess  undeniable  merit  as  a  method  of  training  both  for 
farming  as  a  definite  calling  and  for  intelligent  and  vigorous  partici- 
pation in  the  community  life  of  any  commonwealth. 


CHAPTER   VII 


SUGGESTIONS   TO    SUPERVISORS,   SUPERINTENDENTS, 

AND  DIRECTORS,   SUPPORTED   BY  EXPERIENCE  IN 

MASSACHUSETTS 

The  author  desires  to  be  definite  regarding  certain  principles  and 
procedures  which  he  believes  to  be  important  for  the  sound,  and  at 

the  same  time  reasonably  rapid,  advance- 
ment of  vocational  agricultural  educa- 
tion. He  therefore  ventures  the  follow- 
ing suggestions  to  those  responsible  for 
administration  and  instruction  in  this 
field,  and  supports  them  by  certain 
digests  of  Massachusetts  experience 
where  such  principles  and  procedures 
have  been  followed. 


I.    Know  the  Agricultural  Resources  and 
Possibilities  of  the  Locality  You  Serve 

Some  sort  of  survey  of  the  agricultural 
resources  and  possibilities  of  a  state  or 
locality  should  be  made  as  a  basis  for  any 
well-considered  plan  for  state  or  local 
vocational  agricultural  education. 

Before  the  plan  outlined  in  the  fore- 
going chapters  was  provided  for,  the 
following  question  was  asked  and  an- 
swered :  "  Does  farming  in  Massachusetts 
offer  sufficiently  important  and  attrac- 
tive careers  to  warrant  the  establishment 
of  a  system  of  agricultural  schools  in 
this  Commonwealth,  to  train  boys  and 
girls  who  have  reached  their  fourteenth 
302 


1    \:  y                         ^^^^H 

Fig.  223.  —  Russell  ISkinner,  em- 
ployed by  Chairman  of  Advi- 
sory Committee.  Substitute  for 
project,  cost-accounting  entire 
herd.  Owner  had  pure-bred  sire, 
but  had  never  kept  records. 
Owner  a  prize  winner  in  clean 
milk  contests.  Brimfiekl  Agri- 
cultural Department. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS         303 

birthdays  for  farm  life  and  work?  "  Briefly  stated,  the  farming 
incentives  and  prospects  which  were  found  and  the  conclusions  which 
were  drawn  were  as  follows : 

(i)  Incentives  to  farming  in  Massachusetts  were  many.  —  In  a  given  farm- 
ing enterprise  there  might  be  blended  any  two  or  three,  or  there  might  be 
blended  all,  of  the  incentives  which  made  farming  in  this  state  attractive. 

A.  The  stresses  and  uncertainties  of  other  callings  had  led  many  to  engage 
in  farming.     Severe  competition  and  uncertainty  as  to  the  future  in  business 


0^...V 


\. 


Fig.  224. — Owner  allowed  Skinner  land  for  acre  of  corn  as  "home  project."  Skinner, 
as  "rent,"  cleared  up  stumpy  section.  Prize  ears  in  photo.  Took  "first"  at  three 
fairs.     Sold  single  ears  at  2^i  each.     Brimfield  Agricultural  Department. 

had  resulted  in  the  purchase  and  development  of  Massachusetts  farm  land. 
Prospects  for  a  profitable  investment,  a  stable  occupation,  and  a  lifelong  em- 
ployment at  congenial  work  had  been  incentives  to  redirection  of  effort  in  such 
a  case. 

A  section  of  this  state  was  pointed  out,  during  the  survey,  which  was  said 
to  have  been  bought  up,  one  small  holding  after  another,  by  "  broken-down 
mechanics."  It  might  be  fairly  considered  one  of  the  least  promising  sections 
for  farming.  The  operations  undertaken  were  on  a  small  scale;  in  no  in- 
stance on  a  large  one.  Health  and  vigor,  and  self-sustaining  life  for  their  chil- 
dren and  themselves,  free  from  the  severe  competition  in  the  trades  and  in- 
dustries, were  the  primary  incenti\'cs  in  these  cases. 

B.  Family  attractions  and  associations  were  strong  motives  with  many. 
Farm  after  farm  was  owned  and  operated  by  the  same  family,  in  whose  ances- 


304 


VOCATION.\L  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


tral  line  it  had  remained  for  eight  or  even  nine  generations ;  and  never  before 
had  been  so  capably  tilled  and  productive.  The  author  held  in  his  hand  the 
original  parchment  deed  of  the  Howe  Farm  in  Marlborough,  a  farm  which  had 
never  been  deeded  since  assigned  in  1684  to  thd  ancestors  of  the  present 
owner.  The  owner  was  a  graduate  of  the  Massachusetts  .Agricultural  College 
and  a  member  of  its  Board  of  Trustees.  He  was  a  past  master  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts State  Grange.  Coiner  of  the  phrase,  "  Milk  that  needs  no  washing," 
he  was  making  clean  milk  and  selling  it  at  a  profit  in  a  manufacturing  town.  His 
oldest  son,  a  graduate  of  "  M.  A.  C,"  was  at  home  and  in  partnership  with  him, 
in  dairying,  fruit  growing,  and  market  gardening.    Other  such  instances  included 


Fig.  225.  —  Clifton  .Scoll.  Corn  projcLt  at  home  j  aLrc^.  Just  seeded  to  grass  at  last 
cultivation.  Excellent  "  catch."  Note  clean,  level  cultivation.  Cost  accounted  5 
cows  same  year.  Total  farm  earnings  S598.02.  Now  in  Agricultural  College.  Ashfield 
Agricultural  Department. 


the  ancestral  farm  in  West  Newbury  which  is  the  home  of  the  famous  Thurlow 
Nurseries. 

C.  The  natiu-al  charm  of  the  country  had  been  a  motive  for  the  establish- 
ment of  the  growing  number  of  more  or  less  magnificent  estates  in  Massachu- 
setts. The  North  Shore,  the  South  Shore,  and  the  Berkshires  were  noted  for 
the  men  from  the  great  cities  and  even  from  distant  states  who  had  sought 
Massachusetts  land  for  its  picturesque  actualities  and  possibilities. 

Most  of  these  estates  possessed  well-rounded  agricultural  equipment. 
They  had  created  a  large  demand  for  skilled  gardeners,  florists,  fruit  growers, 
herdsmen,  grooms,  and  trainers.  They  employed  expert  farm  managers,  and 
supplied  their  own  tables  with  the  cleanest  milk  and  the  choicest  farm,  garden, 
orchard,  and  greenhouse  products.  Their  stables  sheltered  harness  horse 
championship  winners  in  international  competitions.     The  owners  had  paid 


SUGGESTIONS  TO   SUPERVISORS  AND   DIRECTORS 


305 


the  highest  prices  for  the  best-bred  live-stock,  and  in  notable  instances  had  put 
their  farming  operations  on  a  strictly  economic  basis,  as  object  lessons  for 
neighboring  farmers.     They  were  proudest  of  results  of  their  own  breeding. 

Beside  and  among  these  more  splendid  estates  there  was  a  multitude  of 
simpler  establishments,  maintained  on  a  more  modest  scale,  for  like  purposes. 

D.  A  life  pursuit  to  be 
found  in  farming  had  been 
the  compelling  incentive 
of  many  people  who  had 
engaged  in  agriculture. 
This  state  had  its  misfits 
and  failures  on  farms,  as  in 
every  other  line  of  human 
activity ;  but  it  also  had 
farmers  who  loved,  and 
were  finding  profitable,  the 
careers  on  the  land  which 
they  had  chosen.  The  suc- 
cess of  the  latter  appeared 
to  be  due  to  two  causes : 
to  a  fundamental  liking 
for  the  land  and  all  the 
natural  accompaniments  of 
its  cultivation  ;  and  to  the 
economic  status  and  pros- 
pects of  farming  in  this 
Commonwealth,  discussed 
in  the  following  section. 
The  survey  yielded  abun- 
dant and  convincing  evi- 
dence that  Massachusetts 
farmers  believed,  not  only 
that  farming  in  general 
offered  a  desirable  career, 

but  also  that  those  who  intended  to  make  farming  a  life  pursuit  in  this  state 
would  find  themsehes  put  to  no  serious  disadvantage  because  their  lot  was 
to  be  cast  in  this  Commonwealth. 

Farming  in  Massachusetts  had  become  increasingly  attractive  to  immi- 
grants who  had  left  the  Old  World  and  come  here  with  the  determination  to 
succeed.  These  immigrants  were  not  so  much  peasants  as  they  were  pioneers. 
They  were  thrifty  and  observant;  they  were  quick  to  adopt  new  ideas  and 
methods.  Money  was  saved  and  invested.  Theirs  was  a  program  of  hope. 
As  their  savings  and  their  holdings  increased  in  value,  their  standards  of  living 


Fic.  220.  Mr.  i;tiu-i  Ix  -  I,  Hadley,  left,- — first 
com  club  member  in  Massachusetts  to  win  a  free 
trip  to  Washington,  D.  C.  Graduate  of  Massachusetts 
Agricultural  College.  Now  farming  on  old  homestead 
and  agricultual  instructor  in  Smith  School,  North- 
ampton. Hadley  likes  to  win.  Two  from  Hadley 
allowed  free  trips  to  Washington  in  19 18. 


3o6 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


had  risen  ;  thej'  had  begun  to  educate  their  children,  and  presently  were  on  a 
level  with  other  good  citizens  in  their  communities. 

(2)  Fanning  prospects  were  good,  and  were  steadily  improving.  The 
survey  included  certain  facts  and  figures  with  regard  to  the  condition  of  agri- 
culture in  this  state. 

A.  The  Agricultural  Census  of  Massachusetts  for  1905  reported  the  value 
of  property  devoted  to  agriculture  in  general  in  this  state  as   $288,153,000. 


THE    SPRINGFIL-I.D    LNION:     MONDAY    EVENINa    NOVEMBER    23     1914 


HAMPDEN   CO.   IMPROVEMENT   DEPT. 


.KEEPm^SOF 

mmmm 


li  ^S    t 


^  oiiny  Men  s!  BfimnelJ  \  o- 

caiionai  SchiwI  Give  !n- 
I  srnjctive  Report 

{YIELD    OF    gL%CH    COW 

Results  ot  Changing   Feed- 
ing   Ration    M«o 
ShovD- 


BMC  r.t^M  r*«  * 
IMt  tr^oM  IMPS  iak»g  l-nj>ct 
work  in  44ir>lns  ai  Uw  tr-ns- 

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MOM  *•»»  *—«  wi.!   f^c  !*•  pun  y'«f 
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«»•«   ■   >«««(   ff  ntl  M     •bll#  Uh-  .Mh«f 

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IS  th-M  wiiwaw  cMiciau*  i«  c«ia  ■ 
bata    Itdns   flwaa   9ila   [aran 

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milk  al'^  III*  MT»T)t  .-.al  e?  f(w*B 
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ia  hnr  K»a  ■>(  ■'ujinAaa  alhiuid  4o.  hn<  * 
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aact*.  haa  aaeAaac*^  tXat  th*  wKuwn 
Id  'Iw  po-jHrv  c)>b  nuataai  and  l^^ 
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Fig.  227.  —  Three  Brimfield  boys,  Norcross,  Hitchcock,  and  Skinner,  reported  records, 
cost,  and  comparative  profits  on  cows  in  four  herds  for  a  year  at  a  meeting  attended  by 
forty  farmers.  Explained  methods  and  answered  questions  for  two  hours.  Superin- 
tendent of  schools  said  exercise  would  have  been  creditable  "in  a  seminar  course  in 
Columbia  University."  Both  sides  of  these  blackboards  were  used  for  records  and 
comparisons.     See  next  page.     Newspapers  reported  the  meeting. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS 


307 


The  annual  farming  output  was  valued  at  873,110,000.  Comparisons  were 
made.  It  was  found  that,  while  the  value  of  the  manufacturing  output  of  the 
state  was  fifteen  times  as  great  as  that  of  the  agricultural  output,  the  total 
value  of  property  devoted  to  manufacturing  was  only  about  three  times  as 
great  as  the  total  value  of  that  devoted  to  agriculture.  Such  comparisons 
were  a  spur  towards  efforts  to  secure  for  agriculture  more  nearly  equal  returns 
per  unit  of  investment  in  the  general  field  of  vocational  efl&ciency.  But  con- 
sidering agriculture  by  itself,  there  was  positive  e%adence  of  advancement 
which  was  encouraging.     Its  growth  in  importance  was  shown  by  the   fact 


Fig.  228.  —  This  young  farmer,  owner  of  Holstein  herd  headed  by  "Briar  Parthenia 
Komdj'ke  de  Kol"  (i  yr.  and  10  mo.),  was  not  present  at  the  meeting  mentioned  in 
Fig.  227,  saw  the  report  and  telephoned  to  ask  if  adult  farmers  could  not  be  given 
similar  instruction.  A  class  was  formed.  Before  end  of  year,  more  than  400  cows  on 
individual  test,  where  before  the  department  opened  not  one  cow  was  on  test.  Norcross 
may  be  seen  above  in  Frontispiece,  Hitchcock  and  Skinner  in  Figures  221,  223,  and  224 
Brimfield  Agricultural  Department. 


that  in  1875  the  total  value  of  output  was  $37,073,000;   in  1885,  $47,756,000; 
in  1895,  852,880,000;    and  in  1Q05,  $73,110,000. 

B.  Massachusetts  farmers  said  farming  prospects  were  promising.  Most 
of  the  conferences  were  personal  interviews  with  Massachusetts  farmers  on 
their  own  premises,  —  farmers  who  were  regarded  by  their  communities  as 
thoroughly  reliable,  and  who  were  dependent  on  their  farming  for  a  living. 
In  all  sections  of  the  state  the  prevailing  opinion  was  that  no  state  offered  a 
better  opportunity  for  profitable  agriculture  and  a  satisfactory  home  life  on  the 


3o8 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


farm  than  did  Massachusetts.     This  was  shown  by  statements  such  as  the 
following : 

"  We  have  good  land."  "  We  have  the  best  markets  in  the  world."  "  We 
have  good  roads  and  short  hauls."  "  We  have  excellent  shipping  facilities, 
and  the  cost  of  shipment  is  light  when  compared  with  the  cost  of  shipping 
produce  from  distant  points."  "  I  increase  my  market  garden  production 
a  little  every  ^-ear;    the  more  I  produce,   the  more  I  can  sell." 

"  The  cities  are  growing  so 
much  faster  than  the  rate  of 
increase  of  production  from  the 
land,  that  excessive  competi- 
tion is  not  to  be  feared,  and 
prices  for  prime  farm  products 
are  bound  to  continue  good  and 
are  likely  to  become  better." 
"  The  great  variety  of  soils  and 
products  is  favorable  to  satisfac- 
tory farming,  taking  one  year 
with  another,  in  this  state." 
"  .\  keen  eye  to  the  markets,  and 
shipment  to  New  York  or  other 
out-of-the-state  points,  when 
prices  rule  low  here  and  high 
there,  take  care  of  any  temporary 
surplus  or  slump  in  home  market 
prices."  "  For  choice  fruit  there 
are  almost  unbelievable  possibili- 
ties in  the  home  market,  with  the 
port  of  Boston  ready  for  ship- 
ment of  practically  unlimited 
quantities,  especially  of  apples, 
to  foreign  markets." 

"  We     have     good     libraries, 

public    schools,    and    churches." 

"  The  Grange  in  Massachusetts  is  a  splendid   organization  for  getting  the 

farmers  together  for  pleasure  and  the  improvement  of  their  life  and  work." 

Such  were  the  things  said  by  the  farmers  themselves  of  the  advantages  of 

farming  in  this  state. 

C.  Few  abandoned  farms  showed  farming  prospects  to  be  improving. 
Secretary  Ellsworth  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  had  in  press  a  report 
of  i6o  pages,  entitled  "  Massachusetts,  her  Agricultural  Resources,  Advan- 
tages and  Opportunities,  with  a  List  of  Farms  for  Sale." 

In  his  preface  Secretary  Ellsworth  said  that  his  publication  was  "  issued 


Fig. 


22y. 


Bicycles   help   in    supervision. 
Botsford  at  Petersham. 


Mr. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS 


309 


at  the  beginning  of  an  exceptional  era  in  Massachusetts  agriculture."'  He 
then  added,  "  While  an  effort  was  made  to  secure  the  names  of  parties  owning 
or  controlling  strictly  abandoned  farms,  the  attempt  was  ineffectual,  and  we 
are  forced  to  confess  that  in  our  belief  there  are  few  such  farms  in  the  state. 
Nevertheless,  reports  confirm  the  opinion  that  there  is  an  enormous  amount 
of  land  lying  idle  or  partly  deserted,  and  that  many  farms  are  not  worked  to 
anywhere  near  their  limit." 

D.  Improved  tillage  had  made  farming  prospects  better.  Massachusetts 
land  was  remarkably  responsive  to  better  farming.  Land  once  tilled  but  then 
lying  for  the  moment  largely  or  even  entirely  neglected  was  regarded  as  a  sign- 
post of  dormant  fertility.  Such  land  was  simply  resting.  Striking  examples 
of  this  fact  came  to  view  during  the  survey.  One  instance  may  suffice  for  illus- 
tration, and  the  fact  that  this  is  furnished  by  the  work  of  a  woman  whose  farm 
was  visited  renders  it  none  the  less  significant. 

The  owner  of  an  intensively  tilled  farm,  with  a  model  dairy  and  well- 
developed    piggery,    poultr\',    market-garden,    and    greenhouse    departments, 


Fig.   230.  —  Horses  are  necessary  at  some  SL-asun^  *jii  niuuiiiain  ruads.     Mr.  Sussmaiia  at 

Ashfield. 


desired  to  increase  her  output.  She  therefore  bought  a  20-acre  field.  This 
lay  next  adjoining  her  own  improved  land,  but  had  not  been  cropped  within 
the  memory  of  the  oldest  inhabitant  of  that  section,  —  not  for  at  least  sixty 
years,  and  probably  not  for  more  than  a  century.  It  was  sparsely  strewn  with 
wild  grass,  gray  moss,  sweet  fern,  and  bayberry.  The  former  owner  had  often 
said  that  he  would  keep  a  yoke  of  oxen,  if  he  only  thought  he  could  grow  enough 
feed  for  them,  but  he  did  not  believe  he  could  do  it. 

The  summer  of  the  survey,  its  first  season  in  tillage  at  the  hands  of  its  new 
owner,  this 'field  yielded  10  acres  of  rye,  straw,  and  grain;  250  bushels  of 
splendid  potatoes;  80  tons  of  ensilage,  put  in  the  silo;  2  acres  of  heavy  field 
corn,  at  the  time  of  the  interview  standing  in  the  shocks;   and  2  tons  of  sugar 


3IO 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


':ikhA 


pumpkins ;  while  at  the  time  the  field  was  visited  there  were  8  acres  in  clover, 
sown  in  the  rye  and  showing  a  good  "  catch,"  5  acre  in  turnips,  with  the  re- 
mainder of  the  field  laid  down  to  rj-e  again. 

E.   Increase  of  investments  in  land  showed  that  farming  was  becoming 
more  attractive  as  a  business  enterprise.     Keen  business  sagacity  had  led  a 

caterer  well  known  in  the 
state  to  purchase  a  farm 
and  develop  it  as  an  ad- 
junct to  his  city  business. 
His  farm  was  a  strictly 
financial  proposition. 
Though  model  equipment 
and  conditions  had  been 
established,  he  did  not  use 
it  for  a  summer  residence, 
and  his  visits  to  the  farm 
were  for  inspection  and  for 
conference  with  his  mana- 
ger. Strict  accounts  were 
kept.  Waste  from  the 
catering  kitchens  was  sold 
to  the  piggery  depart- 
ment. Poultry,  market- 
garden,  piggery,  fruit  and 
dairy  products  were  sold 
to  the  catering  ends  of  the 
combined  business.  The 
books  showed  that  the 
farm  was  a  paying  invest- 
ment. 

"  Golden  New  Eng- 
land," by  Mr.  Sylvester 
Baxter  (The  Outlook,  Sept. 
24,  1910,  pages  189-190), 
was  an  account  of  the 
status    and    prospects    of 


Fig.  231. 


Motor  cycles  are  handy  on  improved  roads. 
Mr.  Bronson  at  Marlborough. 


farming  in  this  section.     Mr.   Baxter  gave   the  following  somewhat  striking 
instance : 

"  On  a  certain  Essex  County  place  a  Boston  business  man  has  gone  into 
apples  in  a  way  that  ranks  the  undertaking  as  a  great  business  enterprise. 
A  single  place,  with  something  like  50,000  apple  trees,  not  only  cuts  a  large 
figure  in  Massachusetts,  —  even  in  the  great  West  it  would  mean  '  going 
some.' " 


SUGGESTIONS  TO   SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS 


311 


F.  Little  farms,  with  intensive  farming,  yielded  large  returns.  —  Con- 
trasted with  the  western  prairies,  the  smaller  fields  along  and  among  the  hills 
and  streams  of  Massachusetts  had  seemed  to  some  impossible  of  profitable 
cultivation.  By  them  it  had  even  been  asserted  that  Massachusetts  is  "  not 
an  agricultural  state."  Such  a  remark  was  met  by  the  Massachusetts  farmer 
with  a  blank  look  of  amazement.  He  had  no  doubt  that  farming  in  this  state 
was  a  permanent  and  would  be  an  increasingly  important  vocation.  He  knew 
that  fundamental  to  advancing  agriculture  is  a  market  commensurate  with  its 


Fig.  232. —  Most  of  the  instructors  use  automobiles.  Light  touring  cars  are  preferred, 
because  pupils,  equipment,  and  supplies  can  on  occasion  be  so  readily  carried.  Home- 
project  efficiency  depends  upon  supervision,  regular  and  frequent.  Mr.  Powers  at 
North  Easton. 

output ;  and  he  saw  the  manufacturing  towns  in  his  neighborhood  growing  with 
a  rapidity  almost  beyond  belief. 

Even  in  the  West,  not  the  enormous  holding,  but  the  smaller  one  is  now 
recognized  as  the  more  promising  basis  for  the  most  permanent  and  profitable 
agricultural  production.  Evidence  is  abundant  that  the  little  farm  may  yield 
large  returns.  One  of  the  tidiest  bits  of  farming  seen  during  the  survey  was  on 
a  lo-acre  farm,  of  which  part  was  in  pasture  and  only  about  6  acres  were  under 
cultivation.  Some  of  the  land  was  tilted  on  edge,  in  typical  New  England 
fashion.  All  of  the  fields  were  more  or  less  irregular  in  their  boundaries,  and 
from  some  of  them  cartloads  of  stones  had  been  removed,  with  more  to  follow. 
The  land  was  "  kept  busy."     Market  gardening  was  the  main  feature,  but  there 


312 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


was  fruit ;  and  there  were  "  side  lines  "  of  dairying  and  poultry,  to  utilize  "clip- 
pings "  and  unsalable  remnants  of  the  principal  products.  This  farm  was 
yielding  a  profit  of  $5000  a  year. 

Other  farms  visited,  which  to  the  unaccustomed  eye  might  look  small, 
were  yielding  net  returns  of  from  $2000  to  $10,000,  and  even  $25,000  a  year. 
Greater  thrift  and  satisfaction  in  work  well  done  one  could  not  hope  to  find  in 
any  state. 


Fig.  233.  —  Mr.  Doolittle  at  wheel.  His  advisory  committee  said  he  was  such  a  valuable 
adviser  that  they  desired  "more  of  his  time  to  be  spent  on  farms  and  less  between 
farms."  He  had  been  using  a  bicycle.  A  fund  was  subscribed  and  this  car  given  his  de- 
partment. The  second  year,  36  pupils  applied,  too  many  for  one  instructor.  Assistant 
at  left  was  provided.  Photograph  taken  on  farm  of  a  Concord  pupil  in  igu.  Mr. 
DooUttle  is  still  at  Concord.     His  work  never  was  so  good  as  now,  and  he  is  still  growing. 


Mr.  Baxter,  in  the  article  above  cited,  gave  the  following  instances : 
"  A  half-acre  strawberry  patch,  .  .  .  yields  5000  quarts,  worth  $525.  Eleven 
hundred  dollars  have  come  from  an  acre  and  a  half  of  cantaloupes.  There  are 
thousands  of  acres  in  asparagus  in  Massachusetts  alone,  with  profits  of  $300 
or  even  $600  an  acre.  An  Italian  makes  from  $4000  to  $5000  a  year  off  of  4 
acres  in  market  gardening.  Five  acres  in  peaches  have  yielded  $2500  in  one 
year.     Apples  1     That  is  a  story  in  itself.     And  flowers  ?     Well,  there  is  a  lady 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS 


3^3 


on  Cape  Cod  who  makes  $200  or  so  every  summer  on  a  patch  of  sweet  peas 
little  bigger  than  a  city  back  yard.  As  for  potatoes  and  corn,  there  are  nu- 
merous big  records." 

G.  Productivity  compares  favorably  with  that  of  other  big  farming  states. 

—  Secretary  Ellsworth,  in  the  pamphlet  before  mentioned,  was  outspoken  and 
explicit  in  his  estimate  of  the  agricultural  prospects  of  Massachusetts.     This 


Fig.  234.  —  Farmers  are  invited  to  help.  Rear  seat,  three  of  advisory  committee  of 
fifteen  farmers.  Woman's  farmhouse  in  background.  She  has  been  a  successful  dairy 
farmer  for  years  on  old  homestead.  Agricultural  instructor  at  left  on  front  seat. 
State  supervisor  at  wheel.  Home  projects  of  16  pupils  visited  in  an  afternoon,  with 
full  opportunity  to  stop  at  quiet  spots  on  road  and  talk  over  what  has  just  been  seen  or 
what  is  about  to  be  seen.  Instructors  thus  learn  from  farmers,  and  farmers  from  in- 
structors.    Photograph  taken  at  Brimfield  for  Panama  Pacific  Exposition. 


has  previously  been  intimated,  and  will  more  clearly  appear  from  the  follow- 
ing passage  : 

"...  when  ratio  of  aggregate  production  to  aggregate  acreage,  yield  per  acre 
of  certain  crops  and  character  of  tillage  are  considered,  Massachusetts  ranks 
favorably  with  the  leading  agricultural  states.  The  following  data,  gleaned 
from  the  latest  official  statistics,  add  strength  to  this  statement  : 

"In  1900  Massachusetts  had  3,147,064  acres  in  farms,  which  j-ielded  the 
previous  year  $42,298,274  worth  of  farm  products.  As  compared  with  the 
five  leading  agricultural  states,  we  find  California,  with  nine  times  this  number 


314  VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

of  acres  in  farms,  producing  only  three  times  as  many  dollars'  worth  of  farm 
products ;  Illinois,  with  ten  times  the  farm  acreage,  producing  eight  times  as 
many  dollars'  worth  of  farm  products ;  Iowa,  with  eleven  times  the  farm  acre- 
age, producing  nine  times  as  many  dollars'  worth  of  farm  products ;  Kansas, 
with  thirteen  times  the  farm  acreage,  producing  four  and  one-half  times  as 
many  dollars'  worth  of  farm  products;  and  Texas,  with  forty  times  the  farm 
acreage,  producing  five  times  as  many  dollars'  worth  of  farm  products." 

(3)  Conclusions.  —  It  was  believed,  in  short,  that  the  experience  of  those 
who  were  successfully  engaged  in  farming  here,  and  the  economic  status  atid 
prospects  of  farming  in  this  Commonwealth,  showed  conclusively  that. excep- 
tional success  awaited  the  work  of  the  exceptional  man  or  woman  in  this  field 
of  economic  activity ;  and  that  farming  was  bound  to  afford  a  profitable  and 
satisfactory  living  for  the  average  boy  or  girl  who  entered  this  field  with  a 
thrifty,  alert,  and  progressive  spirit,  and  with  a  proper  preliminary  education. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  survey,  the  question  was  raised  as  to  whether  a 
system  of  agricultural  schools  would  be  likely  to  result  in  increased  valuation 
of  taxable  property  on  farms,  and  thus  return  directly  to  the  public  treasury  at 
least  some  portion  of  its  cost.  One  farmer  put  the  gist  of  the  answers  of  all  his 
fellows  into  the  succinct  reply,  that  it  did  not  take  the  assessors  long  to  discover 
any  improvements  that  he  made  on  his  farm  as  a  result  of  better  methods. 

Finally,  it  appeared  that  farming  in  Massachusetts  was  a  calling  the  Suc- 
cessful pursuit  of  which  required  knowledge  of  the  sciences  that  lie  back  of  the 
practice  of  agriculture  ;  that,  in  order  to  secure  a  more  widespread,  productive, 
and  profitable  agriculture,  it  was  necessary  that  vocational  schools  and  de- 
partments supported  and  controlled  by  the  public  should  train  boys,  and 
now  and  then  a  girl,  in  the  best  methods  of  farming;  and  that  farming  in 
Massachusetts  was  a  calling  of  sufficient  importance  to  justify  both  local  and 
state  support  of  a  system  of  vocational  agricultural  education  such  as  that 
set  forth  in  the  foregoing  pages. 

(4)  Present  status.  —  Findings  of  one  date  should  be  checked  up 
by  findings  of  later  surveys.  The  present  Commissioner  of  Agri- 
culture has  reviewed  the  original  findings  above  outlined  and  has 
approved  them  as  fairly  representing  the  agriculture  of  Massa- 
chusetts to-day.  All  of  the  conditions  then  favorable  are  still 
favorable. 

The  old  New  England  academy  has  been  called  the  most  efficient 
device  ever  contrived  for  depleting  New  England  country  hfe  of  its 
best  blood  and  brain  and  moral  fiber.  The  old  New  England  minister 
used  to  glory  in  the  boy  he  had  helped  to  send  away.     Everything 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS  315 

was  done  that  could  be  done  for  the  boy  who  was  to  go,  that  might 
directly  help  him  to  succeed  in  his  chosen  career.  Little  or  nothing 
was  done  for  the  boys  who  were  to  stay  at  home  that  might  help  them 
to  succeed  in  their  chosen  careers.  A  radical  correction  of  these 
faults  is  now  on  foot. 

Knowing  the  agriculture  and  the  education  of  Massachusetts,  a 
plan  of  vocational  agricultural  education  has  been  established  which 
affords  a  choice  between  separate  or  county  school  training  and  that 
of  the  high  school  department.  The  high  school  department  plan 
is  particularly  significant.  Due  to  its  very  modest  cost,  it  may  enable 
every  old  rural  academy  and  every  new  rural  high  school  to  serve,  not 
only  the  distant  community,  but  also  the  community  in  which  it  sits. 
One  does  not  cease  to  be  an  optimist  by  reflecting  that  of  the  ten  thou- 
sand boy  babies  born  a  year  in  farmhouses  among  the  hills,  under 
the  trees  and  by  the  streams  of  New  England,  it  is  given  to  few  to 
become  great,  but  it  may  be  given  to  all  to  become  sound  and  serv- 
iceable. Sound  and  serviceable  for  farming  and  country  life  more 
and  more  Massachusetts  boys  are  becoming  under  the  home-project 
plan  of  vocational  agricultural  education. 

2.    Fit  Agricultural  Instruction  to  Local  Needs 

Local  needs  ought  to  be  surveyed  and  re-surveyed  continually. 

In  Massachusetts  there  have  been  found  to  be  several  outstanding 
needs. 

(i)  Needs  of  sons  of  well-to-do  farmers.  —  Sons  of  prosperous 
farmers  desire  this  education.  By  prosperous  farmers  are  meant 
those  who  have  large  capital  and  are  farming  on  a  big  scale,  whether 
by  intensive  or  extensive  methods.  Such  farmers,  or  their  foremen, 
will  probably  continue  to  be  the  best  possible  instructors  of  their  sons 
in  details  of  skill  in  practical  operations ;  and  their  home  farms  will 
provide  abundant  opportunity  for  the  practical  or  productive  school 
work  of  their  sons. 

The  chief  need  of  the  sons  of  prosperous  farmers  is  training  in  cer- 
tain elements  of  agricultural  science.  Those  elements  should  be 
selected  which  directly  bear  upon  the  home  farm  operations  which 
the  pupil  is  observing,  or  in  which  he  is  participating.     Such  a  boy 


3i6 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


should  master  a  body  of  scientific  facts  and  principles  that  will  forever 
free  his  farming  from  the  rule-of-thumb  by  bringing  it  under  the  rule- 
of-reason.     Few  prosperous  farmers  can  fully  instruct  their  sons  in 


j  4^0 'X  At'  : 
:  BCMLER  H)VbZ  ; 
■  ROOF 

I IaL_J 


AuDf'ORion 


UcruRt 


•/»'  X3X- 


l/iBORAroBY 


RoortD  Arema 

JUDGir<6  .DcrAC-M^TF\ATlON3 

RccnEADorf 


:  AtgtMBLY 
.     r\oct\ 


Fig.  235.  —  Building  designed  to  meet  the  distinctive  needs  of  an  agricultural  school. 
Roofed  arena,  a  mammoth  corridor.  Stairs  in  corners.  Entire  floor  space  in  end  sec- 
tions thus  free  for  class  uses.  End  walls  of  arena  cost  no  more  than  if  corridor  had 
been  only  ten  feet  wide.  Four  buildings,  or  five,  under  one  roof.  Marvel  of  low  cost 
for  construction  per  unit  of  space  and  convenience.  Design  sketched  by  the  author. 
See  Fig.  307  for  front.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 

these  matters,  —  they  are  without  laboratory  equipment,  they  are  too 
busy,  and  in  most  cases  they  are  frank  to  say  that  they  have  not  the 
necessary  scientific  knowledge. 

It  is  evident  that  vocational  agricultural  education  may  render  a 
real  service  to  those  sons  of  prosperous  farmers  who  will  not  take  the 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS  317 

longer  course  of  four  years  in  high  school  and  four  years  in  an  agri- 
cultural college,  but  who  desire  a  shorter  course  of  from  one  to  four 
years  in  the  scientific  aspects  of  their  practical  farming.  For  such  boys 
there  can  hardly  be  too  much  attention  given  to  the  kind  and  quality 
of  scientific  training ;  always,  of  course,  remembering  that  the  train- 
ing must  be  suited  to  the  age  and  capacity  of  the  boys. 

(2)  Needs  of  sons  of  parents  without  land  or  live-stock.  —  There 
are  boys  from  village  and  city  homes  who  desire  to  take  up  farming. 
Such  boys  come  with  scarcely  any  farm  experience,  and  are  generally 
destitute  of  land  and  live-stock. 

The  chief  need  of  boys  from  homes  which  have  neither  land  nor 
live-stock  is  adequate  facilities  at  the  separate  or  county  school  for 
productive  farm  work,  or  employment  throughout  the  year  on  farms 
near  the  high  school  departments  they  attend.  For  such  boys, 
stronger  stress  should  be  put  not  upon  the  scientific  equipment  at  a 
county  school,  but  upon  its  equipment  for  practical  farming.  And 
their  needs  for  training  in  practical  farming  may  be  satisfied  best  by 
practical  work  of  two  sorts : 

A.  Training  for  wage-earning.  —  These  boys  must  learn  to  take 
orders.  They  must  show  capacity  to  master  the  "  knack  "  of  doing 
the  thousand  and  one  things  in  routine  farm  work  which  require  skill ; 
and  such  capacity  can  only  be  shown  by  doing  things  as  they  are  told 
or  shown  how  to  do  them,  by  doing  them  repeatedly,  by  doing  some  of 
them  regularly  and  promptly,  and  by  doing  them  at  last  better,  if 
possible,  than  any  competitor  for  a  given  job  on  a  farm  could  do 
them. 

To  meet  the  needs  of  such  boys,  the  number  of  boys  admitted  should 
be  small  and  the  school  should  be  conducting  practical  operations  on 
a  large  scale.  Or  the  school,  like  the  high  school  department,  should 
find  jobs  for  these  boys  on  prosperous  farms,  where  they  might  work 
with  the  privilege  of  attending  the  school,  and  where  they  might 
master  the  practical  elements  of  their  proposed  occupation,  while 
mastering  at  the  school  its  scientific  elements. 

B.  Training  for  independent  farming.  —  For  the  competent  train- 
ing of  these  boys,  a  year  or  two  of  wage-earning  training  should  be 
supplemented  by  a  year  or  two  of  experience  in  planning  and  carrying 


3i8 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


<J'/tf' 


•riR^T  ri_ooR  plam- 

-ScAi.ts-1-cr 


Fio.  236.  —  Smaller  building,  arena  type.     Design  sketched  by  the  author.     Architect, 

Mr.  Wm.  Chapman  of  Boston. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS  AND   DIRECTORS  319 

out  productive  farm  projects.  Science  and  practice  should  every- 
where go  hand  in  hand ;  but,  to  good  illustrative  operations  conducted 
by  a  separate  or  county  school  and  adequate  land  and  live-stock 
therefor,  should  be  added  enough  land  and  live-stock  to  enable  these 
boys  to  conduct  sizable  enterprises  in  which  they  would  meet  all 
charges  and  from  which  they  would  receive  all  of  the  profit. 

The  live-stock  bought  for  such  purposes  should  be  the  best  the 
resources  of  the  school  permit,  and  the  land  bought  should  be  the 


Fig.  236,  Continued.  —  Main  building  at  Norfolk  County  Agricultural  School,  Walpole. 
Brick  and  stone.  Colonial  front.  Arena  with  clay  floor,  and  with  driving  entrance  and 
exit.  Arena  fence,  like  that  of  Smith  School,  convertible  into  table  space.  Two  floors 
including  high,  light  basement  rooms  for  purposes  of  instruction  and  administration. 
OflSces,  front ;  auditorium,  rear.     No  long  corridors.     Stairs  in  comers  of  arena. 


most  highly  productive  and  easily  tilled  that  can  be  obtained. 
Such  boys  should  be  shown  the  possibilities  of  farming  at  its  best, 
and  allowed  to  have  profits  equal  to  the  best  any  farmer  could  hope 
to  gain  after  all  proper  charges  had  been  met. 

These  boys  need,  during  the  trying  years  from  fourteen  to  eighteen, 
to  be  held  to  a  steady  course,  to  be  given  both  skill  and  intelligence 
in  farm  work  and  management.  But  above  all,  perhaps,  they  should 
be  given  courage,  the  courage  of  their  own  convictions,  based  on  their 
practical  farm  experience,  that  farming  is  a  caUing  which  is  attractive 
and  which  can  be  made  to  pay.     Poor  live-stock  and  land  at  the 


320 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


T"l  fe 

.11  iufiiimiS/iiiif  1^- 


Fig.  237.  —  Proposed  addition  to  accommodate  home-making  course  on  first  floor,  and 
agricultural  department  in  basement  and  arena.  Bottom  drawing  shows  terraced  floor 
at  right,  stairway  in  corner,  wide  entrance  into  shop  at  left  and  at  right  door  into  agricul- 
tural classroom  and  laboratory.  Upper  panel  shows  terraced  seating  of  arena,  oflSce, 
and  classrooms.  Note  folding  partitions  between  rooms  to  provide  for  exhibits  and 
other  public  functions.  .'Vrena  has  driving  entrance  at  left,  and  is  large  enough  for 
sizable  basket-ball  court.  Estimated  cost,  less  than  $10,000.  Detailed  drawings  by 
E.  C.  &  G.  C.  Gardner  of  Springfield,  Architects  of  the  Smith  School  at  Northampton. 
Design  sketched  by  the  author.     Brimfield  Agricultural  Department. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS  AND   DIRECTORS  32 1 

school  might  defeat  its  purpose  in  the  cases  of  these  boys  by  discour- 
aging them,  and  by  forcing  them  to  form  unfair  opinions  as  to  the 
best  possibiHties  of  farming  open  to  a  man  of  spirit,  proper  training, 
and  reasonable  capital. 

(3)  Needs  of  sons  of  farmers  of  modest  means.  —  Most  of  the  boys, 
however,  who  seek  vocational  agricultural  training  are  likely  to  be 
sons  of  farmers  of  modest  means.  There  are  many  farmers  who  are 
just  getting,  or  trying  to  get,  a  start.  Some  have  land  that  needs 
extensive  improvement.  Some  are  without  all  the  equipment  they 
might  well  desire.  But  all  have  something  with  which  to  begin.  If 
their  sons  seek  training  at  a  separate  or  county  school,  they  should 
find  there  the  best  inspiration  which  good  land  and  live-stock,  good 
general  farm  equipment,  and  good  profits  can  be  made  to  give. 

Individual  farming  enterprises  at  the  school,  in  the  cases  of  these, 
boys,  should  be  omitted  or  should  be  secondary.  Of  primary  impor- 
tance should  be  such  enterprises  carefully  studied  and  competently 
carried  out  at  their  own  homes,  under  regular  school  supervision.  If 
the  school  failed  in  all  other  cases,  it  should  not  fail  here.  In  fact, 
due  attention  to  the  requirements  of  such  boys  may  well  prove  to  be 
one  of  the  most  important  helps  to  a  separate  or  county  school  in 
keeping  a  just  balance. 

Exclusive  regard  for  the  sons  of  prosperous  farmers  might  lead  the 
school  to  omit  land  and  live-stock,  and  to  put  its  funds  into  library 
and  laboratory  facilities  for  the  training  of  these  boys  in  agricultural 
science.  Or,  exclusive  regard  for  the  sons  of  parents  who  have  neither 
land  nor  live-stock  might  lead  the  school  to  lessen  library  and  labora- 
tory facilities,  and  to  put  undue  emphasis  upon  productive  operations 
as  means  of  training  these  pupils  in  practical  farm  work.  Whereas, 
the  sons  of  farmers  of  modest  means  need,  and  should  be  given,  all 
the  inspiration  and  courage  good  farm  land,  equipment,  operations, 
and  profits  at  a  school  can  give,  —  coupled  with  such  a  mastery  of  the 
elements  of  agricultural  science  as  will  make  plain  to  their  understand- 
ing what  they  are  doing  at  home,  towards  realizing  some  of  the  best 
results  which  they  have  found  elsewhere. 

If  these  boys  attend  a  high  school  agricultural  department,  every 
effort  should  be  made,  by  visits  to,  or  by  temporary  employment, on, 


322 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


the  best  farms  in  the  locality,  to  enlighten  them  as  to  the  possibilities 
of  progressive  farming  and  to  spur  them  to  the  best  effort  of  which 
they  are  capable. 

(4)  Needs  of  those  over  sixteen  who  desire  evening  or  other  short 
courses.  —  The  requirement,  in  the  Smith-Hughes  Act,  of  six  months 
of  supervised  farm  practice  in  connection  with  all  federal-aided  voca- 
tional agricultural  education  is  most  salutary.     The  educational  cycle 


Fig.  238.  —  Auditorium  an  agricultural  classroom.  Blackboard.  Partition  rear  of  in- 
structor lifts.  Events  in  arena  thus  brought  into  view.  Live-stock  demonstrated  in 
either  auditorium  or  arena.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 

in  all  agricultural  schools  and  departments  should  be  completed. 
The  instructor  needs  to  know  the  home  conditions  of  his  pupils  before 
he  tries  to  teach,  in  order  that  he  may  know  exactly  what  to  teach. 
Projects,  conducted  by  pupils  of  whatever  age,  in  short  course  or  long, 
for  which  teaching  materials  are  prepared,  should  begiri  and  end  the 
cycle  of  vocational  agricultural  education. 

(5)  Needs  of  families  for  itinerant  teaching.  —  Those  responsible 
for  vocational  agricultural  education  ought  to  meet  the  needs  of  sub- 
urban and  village  residents  who  have,  or  can  be  helped  to  secure,  land 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS 


323 


or  live-stock  and  who  desire  to  make  their  agricultural  holdings 
contribute  to  their  support.  Such  needs,  important  at  any  time,  are 
peculiarly  pressing  under  the  present  conditions  of  food  shortage  and 
oppressive  prices. 

A.  Example  of  a  survey  of  such  needs.  —  In  Massachusetts  in 
191 3  a  special  survey  of  the  needs  and  possibilities  of  agricultural 
teaching  was  made,  in  response  to  an  order  from  the  legislature  that 


Fig.  239.  —  Sliding  partition  lifted.  Auditorium  floor  has  sewer  connection.  Arena  floor 
is  clay,  with  surface  lightly  sanded  to  prevent  sticking  and  tracking.  Sprinkled  five 
P.M.  No  dust  during  day.  Scoring  and  demonstrating  live-stock.  Smith  School, 
Northampton. 

the  Board  of  Education  investigate  and  report  upon  the  needs  of 
city  families  for  agricultural  instruction. 

Newspaper  dispatches  had  announced  that  the  Chicago  evening  schools 
were  to  provide  agricultural  instruction  for  foreign  residents  during  the  winter 
of  1913-14,  and  that  the  New  York  State  School  of  x\griculture,  on  Long  Island, 
was  being  established  at  an  anticipated  cost  of  a  million  or  more  dollars  for  the 
express  benefit  of  city  boys,  who  were  later  to  be  provided  with  small  farms  on 
easy  terms  by  a  group  of  philanthropists.  A  valuable  experiment  was  found 
in  the  plan  of  the  late  Mr.  Austin  C.  Dunham  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  who  had 


324 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


bought  a  ninety-acre  tract  of  land,  and  had  it  laid  out  in  small  parcels  varying 
in  size  from  one  to  five  acres.  On  each  he  was  proceeding  to  build  a  comfort- 
able house,  a  cow  shed,  a  henhouse,  and  a  pigpen.  He  proposed  to  put  each 
tract  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  to  stock  it,  and  to  deliver  it  to  a  selected 
family  at  the  actual  cost,  charging  4  per  cent  interest  for  the  amount  not  paid. 
He  proposed  that  the  wife  and  children  should  "  take  care  of  the  hens,  milk  the 
cow,  and  feed  the  pig,"  and  the  husband  should  "  continue  to  work  for  wages, 
and  in  his  overtime  take  care  of  the  garden,"  a  practice  which  he  said  he  found 


i'lG.  240.  —  Portable  colony  houses  for  poultry  made  here.     Bad  weather  does  not  stop 

work.    Horse  shows  held  in  arena.  Note  sloping  fence.    Wheel  hub  cannot  catch.    Rider 

cannot  be  crushed  against  post.  Fence,  combination  fence  and  table.     See  Fig.  242. 
Smith  School,  Northampton. 


already  in  vogue.  Provision  for  the  agricultural  instruction  necessary  to  in- 
sure successful  productive  operations  was  to  be  made.  Already  Mr.  Dunham 
had  had  120  applications  for  one  of  these  "  farms,"  some  of  them  evidently 
being  of  such  a  character  as  would  warrant  their  being  accepted.  Such  indi- 
cations as  these,  while  establishing,  perhaps,  a  reasonable  presumption  of  need, 
were  not  regarded  as  well-proved  precedents. 

More  valuable  and  suggestive  had  been  the  experience  which  the  Board 
of  Education  itself  had  had  in  supervising  the  expenditure  of  state  funds  in 
aid  of  vocational  agricultural  education.  Repeatedly  boys,  a  number  of  them 
of  foreign  parentage,  from  families  owning  or  occupying  small  suburban  places. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS 


325 


had  sought  admission  to  agricultural  classes  and  had  greatly  profited  from  the 
instruction.  The  interest,  thrift,  and  intelligence  shown  by  parents  in  connec- 
tion with  the  productive  farm  work  of  the  pupils,  which  had  been  supervised 
during  the  summer  by  the  agricultural  instructors,  augured  well  for  the  exten- 
sion of  this  sort  of  instruction  and  for  the  feasibility  of  adapting  it  to  the 
needs  of  the  younger  children  and  of  the  parents  themselves. 

(A)    The  plan  and  details  of  the  survey.  —  Under  the  terms  of  the  House 
order,  passed  by  the  legislature  May  6,  1913,  the  Board  of  Education  felt  that 


Fig.  241.  —  Auditorium  seats  steeply  banked.  "Xot  a  poor  seat  in  the  house."  Arena  for 
work,  exhibitions,  and  recreation.  Driving  entrance  at  left,  exit  at  right.  Winter  tennis, 
basket  ball,  etc.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 


it  was  incumbent  upon  it  to  obtain  data  as  to  the  need  and  desirability  of  agri- 
cultural instruction  on  the  part  of  families  living  in  congested  quarters  of  cities. 
No  funds  were  provided  wherewith  the  Board  could  undertake  an  extensive 
investigation.  It  was  decided,  therefore,  to  obtain  facts  regarding  500  typical 
tenement  families  in  the  North  End  and  West  End  of  Boston.^     For  this  pur- 

1  The  author  consulted  the  secretary  and  other  representatives  of  the  Homestead  Com- 
mission. Mr.  Philip  Davis,  of  the  North  End  Civic  House,  rendered  valuable  assistance  in 
selecting  so-called  "linguists,"  —  persons  familiar  with  the  various  foreign  languages  spoken 
by  the  heads  of  families  in  the  North  End  and  West  End,  —  to  hold  the  necessary  personal 
interviews  and  obtain  the  required  data.  The  Boston  school  committee  furnished,  through 
schoolmasters,  Usts  of  the  heads  of  families  with  children  of  the  ages  above  specilied.  Special 
mention  should  be  made  of  the  faithful  and  untiring  labors  of  Mr.  Francesco  Profita,  since 


326 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


pose  "  linguists  "  were  employed  as  canvassers.  These  canvassers  were  care- 
fully instructed  regarding  the  general  objects  of  the  inquiry.  It  was  necessary 
to  put  before  the  heads  of  the  families  consulted  a  clear-cut  and  concrete  plan. 
A  memorandum  for  the  information  of  the  canvassers  was  prepared  for  this 
purpose.  It  was  assumed  for  convenience  that  the  city  of  Boston,  having 
been  given  authority  to  do  so,  would  proceed  to  establish  and  maintain  a 
vocational  agricultural  school.  It  was  assumed  that  a  portion  of  the  fifty-acre 
tract  which  the  city  was  authorized  to  purchase  for  this  school  might  be  used 


Fig.  242.  —  Arena  fence  converted  into  table.  Pipe  bearing  at  top.  Bottom  lifted.  Light 
chains  support  table  at  outer  edge.  Table  space  at  moment's  notice  with  no  trouble 
from  cartage,  breakage,  or  storage.  Note  gallery  above,  which  serves  for  thoroughfare 
at  intermediate  level  of  building,  also  for  seating  at  shows  and  other  big  events  in 
arena.     Designed  by  the  author.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 

for  small  homesteads  to  be  rented  as  a  sort  of  cottage  and  garden  laboratory  system 
in  testing  the  demand  for,  and  the  practicability  of,  the  teaching  of  agriculture 
to  families  from  tenements.  It  was  further  assumed  that  wage-earning  would 
go  on  as  usual.  Finally,  it  was  assumed  that  the  chief  purpose  of  the  school, 
even  while  teaching  agriculture  to  a  few  such  families,  would  be  the  prepara- 
tion of  pupils  over  fourteen  years  of  age  for  "  wage-earning  or  other  productive 
work  on  the  farm,"  —  the  usual  work  of  agricultural  schools.  These  four 
assumptions  were  clearly  in  the  minds  of  the  interpreters  as  they  presented  to 
heads  of  families  the  outlines  of  the  plan. 

he  was  the  interpreter  through  whom  the  plan  suggested  for  consideration  was  brought  to 
the  attention  of  by  far  the  greatest  number  of  individual  families. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS  327 

Five  hundred  families,  accordingly,  were  approached  by  the  interpreters, 
some  more  than  once,  with  the  following  results : 

a.  Replies  refused.  ^  Some  refused  to  be  interviewed.  Doors  were  opened 
but  a  crack  and  then  slammed  in  the  faces  of  the  interpreters.  In  a  case  now 
and  then,  before  scarcely  a  word  had  been  spoken,  the  interpreter  was  jostled, 
and  heavier  violence  was  threatened.  Such  opposition  had  no  significance 
so  far  as  the  possible  merits  of  the  plan  were  concerned.  A  stranger  was  at  the 
door,  and  as  such  was  viewed  with  violent  suspicion. 

b.  Replies  given  but  names  withheld.  —  Others  were  willing  to  listen  to  a 
full  e.xplanation  of  the  proposed  plan.  They  were  even  willing  to  answer  the 
questions  of  the  interpreters.  But  they  were  not  willing  to  give  their  names. 
They  were  not  opposed  to  the  plan,  but  were  suspicious  of  the  interpreter,  and 
would  not  risk  a  formal  indorsement.  Evidently  more  than  one  foreign- 
speaking  tenement  family  has  been  victimized  by  the  .house-to-house  canvasser. 
No  account,  beyond  a  record  like  that  here  given,  was  made  of  the  replies 
of  such  heads  of  families. 

c.  Some  opposed.  —  Still  others  discussed  the  plan  in  all  of  its  bearings, 
but  were  opposed  to  it.  Some  said  they  were  happy  where  they  were.  They 
had  many  friends  living  near  them.  They  liked  to  take  a  stroll  in  the  crowded 
streets  and  by  the  store  windows.  They  were  close  to  their  places  of  employ- 
ment, and  were  not  under  daily  expense,  for  car  fares.  Amusements  were 
near  and  cheap.  There  were  odd  jobs  for  the  children  from  which  their 
earnings  were  considerable.  The  schools  were  good  enough  for  them  and  were 
close  at  hand.  Some  were  taking  boarders  or  lodgers  and  thus  were  able  to 
tide  over,  with  a  degree  of  comfort,  dull  seasons  when  the  head  of  the  family 
was  out  of  work.  Other  than  a  record  like  that  here  given,  no  account  of  the 
replies  from  such  families  was  made. 

d.  Thirty-seven  per  cent  favorable.  —  One  hundred  and  eighty-five  families 
favored  the  plan,  answered  practically  every  question,  and  either  signed  or 
gave  their  names.  In  these  families  there  were  958  children,  ranging  in  age 
from  one  month  to  thirty  years. 

Of  the  boys,  193  were  over  eight  and  under  fourteen  years  of  age.  Of  the 
girls,  154  were  over  eight  and  under  fourteen.  Of  those  fourteen  to  eighteen 
years  of  age  there  were  88  boys  and  71  girls,  or  a  total  of  159. 

One  hundred  and  sixty-six  heads  of  families  desired  agricultural  instruction 
for  themselves  ;  164,  for  their  wives  ;  168,  for  their  children.  In  these  families 
the  number  of  children  living  at  home  was  896.  Of  these  children  the  number 
then  earning  was  248. 

The  occupations  of  the  heads  of  families,  and  the  number  in  each,  were  as 
follows  :  attendant,  1  ;  bakers,  3  ;  barbers,  5  ;  bed-makers,  2  ;  blacksmith,  i ; 
butchers,  3  ;  candy-makers,  4 ;  carpenters,  6 ;  cook,  i  ;  firemen,  3  ;  florist,  i ; 
foremen  of  laborers,  3 ;  freight  house  worker,  i ;  glazier,  i  ;  grocer,  i  ;  hod 
carriei.  i  ;    jeweler,  i;    laborers,  94;    maker  of  flavoring  extracts,  i;    market 


328 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


man,  I  ;  masons,  2;  musician,  i  ;  packer,  i;  painters,  3  ;  peddlers,  14;  piano 
tuner  and  repairer,  i  ;  porter,  i  ;  pressers,  5  ;  ragmen,  2 ;  seaman,  i ;  shoe- 
makers, 4 ;  stonecutters,  3  ;  stone  polisher,  i  ;  storekeeper,  i ;  tailors,  8 ; 
teamsters,  3. 

The  places  of  employment  of  the  heads  of  these  families,  except  those  in  or 
near  the  center  of  Boston,  and  the  number  of  each,  were  as  follows :  Cam- 
bridge, 3  ;  Somerville,  2  ;  Ev-erett,  i  ;  Cottage  Farm,  i ;  Mattapan,  2  ;  Con- 
cord, I ;    East  Dedham,  i ;    Brockton,  i ;    Clinton,  i  ;   New  York,  i. 

Thirty-three  were  voters.  Twenty-one  had  taken  out  their  first  papers  for 
the  purpose  of  becoming  voters. 

Birthplaces,  with  the  number  from  each,  were  given  as  follows  :  Italy,  151 ; 
Russia,  30;    Austria-Hungar}',  2;    England,  i ;    New  Jersey,  i. 


Fig.  243.  —  Annual  poultry  show  in  arena.  Held  under  joint  auspicci  ui  bclioul  and 
County  Poultry  Association.  Various  courses  are  similarly  brought  to  climax  in  events 
which  bring  best  pupils  can  do  into  comparison  with  best  products  of  adults.  1000 
birds  shown.     Uniform,  sanitary,  steel  coops.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 

The  commonest  rent  paid  among  these  families  was  $12  a  month;  the 
lowest  rent  paid  was  $7  a  month;  the  highest,  $29  ;  the  average,  $12.14.  The 
commonest  number  of  rooms  per  tenement  was  3. 

Thirty-nine  said  they  had  lived  in  a  suburb ;    141  said  they  had  not. 

One  hundred  and  eighty  said  they  would  prefer  not  to  remain  in  a  city 
tenement. 

(B)  Replies  intelligent.  The  number  of  the  questions  asked  and  the  nature 
of  the  information  requested  were  intended  to  be  such  as  to  insure  deliberate 
and  intelligent  replies.  The  considerations  which  appeared  to  have  carried 
most  weight  were  three  : 

a.  Thrift  a  motive.  —  Financial  betterment  was  anticipated.  Many  saw 
in  the  plan  a  means  of  reducing  their  cost  of  living.  Seventeen  even  went  so 
far  as  to  urge  that  an  opportunity  be  given  them  to  secure,  on  an  easy-payment 


SUGGESTIONS  TO   SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS 


329 


plan,  homes  for  themselves  with  a  little  tillable  land  about  them.  They  held 
that  their  agricultural  instruction  would  be  much  enhanced  in  value,  if  their 
directed  labor  could  be  spent  upon  land  which  was  ultimately  to  be  their  own. 
b.  Child  welfare  a  motive.  —  The  weightiest  consideration  with  many  was 
the  welfare  of  their  children.  Their  present  living  conditions  were  bad  enough 
for  adults ;  for  children  they  said  these  conditions  were  woeful  in  the  extreme. 
To  them  the  brightest  promise  of  the  plan  suggested  was  found  in  the  whole- 
some living  conditions  and  opportunities  for  fruitful  labor  proposed  for  their 
young.     They  accepted  \\ithout  hesitation  the  view  of  Mr.  Henry  Sterling, 


Fig.  244.  —  Waiting  in  auditorium  for  lecture  and  demonstration  by  expert  at  poultry 
show.  Partition  will  be  dropped,  thus  shutting  out  all  arena  confusion.  Smith  School, 
Northampton. 


Secretary  of  the  Homestead  Commission,  that  "  the  benefits  of  a  few  years  of 
such  an  environment  and  training  to  children  from  the  crowded  tenements  are 
too  great  to  be  told." 

c.  Suburban  residence  a  factor.  —  While  147  had  worked  on  a  farm  or 
garden,  and  therefore  were  in  position  to  judge  intelligently  of  the  work  in- 
volved in  the  suggested  plan  of  agricultural  instruction,  the  plan  might  not 
have  been  favored  had  it  not  been  provided  that  the  place  of  residence  should 
not  be  more  than  a  5-cent  car  ride  from  the  Boston  city  hall ;  that  is  to  say, 
the  plan  was  dealt  with  as  a  strictly  suburban  proposition. 

(C)  Replies  significant.  —  Of  the  500  families  approached,  37  per  cent  were 
favorable  to  the  plan  suggested.  Advocates  of  agricultural  instruction  for  city 
tenement  families  had  expressed  the  opinion  at  the  beginning  of  this  investiga- 


330 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


tion  that  if  even  s  per  cent  were  found  to  be  favorable,  the  proposed  plan  would 
merit  a  trial. 

Moreover,  the  secretary  of  the  Homestead  Commission  was  of  the  opinion 
that  his  commission  would  be  able  to  satisfy  the  desire  of  those  who  preferred 
easy  terms  upon  which  to  become  owners,  rather  than  renters,  of  small  home- 
steads. He  was  confident  that  once  a  family  had  proved  itself  to  be  honest 
and  reliable,  amenable  to  reasonable  rules  of  occupation,  apt  at  profitable  pro- 
duction of  fruit,  vegetables,  poultry  and  eggs,  milk  or  honey,  and  could  show 


Fig.  245.  —  Morning  before  show.  Nervous  horses  being  schooled  to  arena.  Eighty-six 
horses  shown  in  sixteen  classes,  afternoon  and  evening.  Stabled  in  tent  at  rear.  Sad- 
dlers, drivers,  drafters,  expressers,  farm  chunks,  children's  ponies  shown.  More  than 
IOCX3  spectators.  Ribbons  to  the  winners.  Winners  paraded  and  fine  points  indicated 
by  announcer.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 


a  certificate  from  the  director  of  the  school,  or  from  the  agricultural  instructor 
by  whom  it  had  been  taught,  to  this  effect,  people  of  means  could  be  induced 
by  his  commission  to  provide  the  desired  opportunity  for  the  purchase  of  a 
homestead.  Suburban  homesteads,  he  thought,  should  be  ready  for  purchase 
on  easy  terms  as  fast  as  families  could  be  prepared  to  operate  them  reliably  and 
profitably.  If  his  ground  was  well  taken,  this  possibility  gives  an  added  touch 
of  interest  and  significance  to  the  above  impressive  figures. 

(D)  Conclusions.  —  It  was  evident  from  the  information  gathered  regard- 
ing tenement  families  that  the  methods  by  which  such  families  can  be  success- 
fully taught  agriculture  must  differ  radically  from  those  which  are  suitable  in 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS  AND   DIRECTORS  33 1 

a  "  movable  school  "  or  winter  "  short  course  "  for  adult -farmers,  and  that 
they  must  differ  somewhat  from  those  which  are  followed  in  "  day  classes  '"  for 
vocational  agricultural  pupils. 

Adult  American  farmers  bring  to  the  lecture  room  a  rich  background  of 
practical  experience,  and  often  are  capable  of  making  written  notes  of  facts 
and  principles  for  later  review,  adaptation,  and  application;  and  day  school 
pupils  over  fourteen  years  old  are  capable  of  reading,  studying,  and  note-tak- 
ing. The  conditions  in  these  foreign-born  families  are  such  that  the  adults,  so 
far  as  they  have  any  background  of  agricultural  experience,  have  only  knowl- 
edge of  foreign  soils,  climates,  and  crops;  the  available  American  agricultural 
literature  is  in  a  language  which  they  read  with  extreme  difficulty  or  not  at  all ; 
often  they  cannot  write  ;  while  the  children  under  fourteen  have  no  agricultural 
background  at  all  and  need  guidance  daj'  by  day,  or  at  least  week  by  week,  in 
productive  work  as  the  first  step  in  their  agricultural  instruction. 

Methods  of  "  telling  and  showing,"  in  connection  with  the  various  phases' 
of  agricultural  production  proposed,  therefore,  would  have  to  be  developed  and 
applied  ;  and  it  was  thought  that  these  undoubtedly  would  better  be  attempted 
at  first  on  a  small  scale,  so  that  their  efficiency  could  be  carefully  studied  and 
thoroughly  proved.  Following  methods  of  telling  and  showing,  at  the  time 
and  on  the  field  of  action,  parents  and  children  might  be  led  to  aid  and  supple- 
ment one  another's  endeavors,  —  the  children,  on  one  hand,  acting  as  inter- 
preters for  the  instructors  in  the  efforts  of  the  instructors  to  inculcate  certain 
fundamental  but  very  elementary  agricultural  facts  and  principles ;  the  parents, 
on  the  other  hand,  between  visits  of  the  instructors,  guiding  and  steadying  the 
routine  agricultural  work  of  the  children. 

The  men  selected  for  the  vocational  agricultural  instructorships,  it  was 
believed,  would  know  best  how  to  adapt  their  present  methods  of  telling  and 
showing  to  the  needs  of  these  families.  The  field  would  not  be  wholly  strange 
to  them.  Already  they  were  teaching  the  fourteen-year-old  pupil  and  super- 
vising his  home  projects  in  agricultural  production,  and  it  was  apparent  to  all 
intimately  connected  with  their  work  that  the  differences  in  learning  capacity 
between  pupils  who  had  reached  their  fourteenth  birthday  and  those  who  had 
not  did  not  hinge  upon  that  birthday,  but  were  largely'  matters  of  heredity  and 
opportunity.  Since  the  agricultural  teaching  above  suggested  would  be  given 
either  at  twilight,  when  the  parents  were  at  home,  or  in  other  out-of-school 
hours,  it  was  thought  choice  of  methods  should  be  governed  solely  by  the  learn- 
ing capacity  of  the  applicants  as  embodied  in  the  complementary  abilities  of 
the  parents  and  of  their  children  eight  to  thirteen  years  of  age. 

The  proposal  that  the  school  itself  should  possess  sufficient  land  to  pro- 
vide small  homesteads  for  families  during  the  period  of  instruction  was  novel, 
and  there  was  no  available  experience  on  which  to  judge  of  its  merits.  The 
Board  recommended  that  as  an  experimental  measure  existing  agricultural 
schools  should  be  enabled,  under  proper  supervision  of  the  Board,  to  provide 


332 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


on  land  already  owned  b)'  them  small  homesteads,  not  to  exceed  two  in  the  case 
of  any  school,  for  carefully  selected  families.  The  experiment  seemed  to 
be  well  worth  making.  If  an  agricultural  school  were  established  in  Boston 
with  fifty  acres  of  land,  two  homesteads  of  this  character  could  readily  be  made 
available,  and  in  a  few  years  the  possibilities  of  agricultural  instruction  for 
families  by  aid  of  such  homesteads  could  be  demonstrated.     If  the  experiment 


i'Vc.  246.^ — Earl  of  Chatham  36260.  Sire  of  race  horses.  '  Has  sired  17  standard  per- 
formers. Stands  15-3  hands  high.  Black.  Excellent  bone,  conformation,  and  quality. 
Owned  by  Connecticut  River  Stock  Farm,  Hatfield,  Mass. 

were  to  fail,  there  would  be  involved  no  loss  of  public  funds,  since  the  premises 
could  be  rented  to  desirable  tenants,  perhaps  to  employees  of  the  school  itself. 

The  dwelling,  the  tillable  land,  and  the  small  buildings  for  live-stock  which 
might  thus  be  rented  to  two  families  might  be  regarded  during  the  life  of  the 
experiment  as  a  sort  of  "  laboratory  "  device  adapted  to  this  special  form  of 
agricultural  instruction.  In  all  respects,  it  was  held  that  the  homestead 
arrangement  should  be  looked  upon  as  an  educational  experiment. 

The  necessary  equipment  of  small  tools  should  be  provided  by  the  families 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS 


333 


themselves.  They  would  require  but  a  moderate  outlay,  and  might  be  re- 
garded as  a  reasonable  guaranty  of  earnestness  and  good  faith.  The  more 
expensive  equipment  occasionally  required  by  the  family  could  doubtless  be 
borrowed  from  the  school. 

Since  instruction  in  gardening  and  possibly  in  poultry  keeping  would  un- 
doubtedly constitute  the  first  stages  of  any  course,  the  expense  ought  not  to  be 
beyond  the  reach  of  even  a  very  poor  family. 

It  was    recommended    in    the   report  that   the  agricultural  instruction  for 


m.                                '^-m^Klk 

y^ 

Fig.  247.  —  May  Chatham.  Sired  by  Earl  of  Chatham.  Winner  of  31  blue  ribbons  and 
Vermont  State  Fair  Cup.  Winner  of  first  premium  two  years  in  succession  at  Eastern 
States  Exposition,  Springfield,  in  the  trotting  bred  roadster  class.  Never  beaten  but 
once,  and  then  by  her  full  brother.  Bred  and  shown  by  her  owner,  Mr.  W.  H.  Dickinson 
of  Hatfield.  Earl  of  Chatham  and  his  get  shown  at  every  horse  show  held  in  the 
Smith  School  Arena. 


families  should  be  free,  just  as  the  instruction  given  pupils  in  the  existing 
vocational  schools  was  free.  In  the  cases  of  families  temporarilj-  occupying 
premises  belonging  to  a  school,  the  cost  of  living  probably  would  not  exceed 
that  of  living  in  tenements. 

Under  the  rules  of  the  school,  overcrowding  would  not  be  permitted.  Con- 
sequently, families  from  city  tenements  might  be  deprived  of  revenue  from  the 
taking  of  lodgers  or  boarders  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed  in  the  tene- 
ments.    These  families,  as  well  as  others  moving  out  from  citv  tenements  and 


334 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


owning  or  occupying  land  not  furnished  by  a  school,  might  find  themselves 
under  some  extra  expense  for  car  fares  on  the  part  of  the  wage  earners  of  the 
family.  These  losses,  it  was  thought,  probably  would  be  more  than  offset 
by  improved  working  capacity  resulting  from  more  wholesome  living  conditions 
and  by  the  supplies  of  garden  and  other  farm  products  produced  in  connection 


Fig.  248.  —  "High  School"  horse  awarded  a  blue  ribbon  at  an  Arena  horse  show. 
"cake  walk."    Smith  School,  Northampton. 


Doing 


with  the  agricultural  instruction,  and  either  used  by  the  family  or  sold.  Better 
living  conditions,  therefore,  and  a  somewhat  diminished  cost  of  food  and 
shelter  might  compensate  for  increased  traveling  expenses  and  the  lack  of 
income  from  lodgers  or  boarders. 

The  suggested  plan,  therefore,  of  associating  the  instructing  of  families  in 
aj^riculture  with  the  established  and  supervised  home-project  plan  of  voca- 
tional agricultural  education  was  believed  to  be  both  logical  and  psychological, 
and  to  be  no  less  promising  as  a  matter  of  efficiency  than  as  a  matter  of  economy. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO   SUPERVISORS  AND   DIRECTORS 


335 


As  to  the  extent  to  which  such  instruction  might  ultimately  be  carried, 
no  prediction  was  hazarded.  For  the  time  being,  during  a  reasonable  trial 
period,  it  was  proposed  that  the  instruction  should  be  strictly  limited  to  such 
teaching  as  regularly  employed  vocational  agricultural  instructors  could  safely 
be  commissioned  to  do 
in  connection  with,  or 
in  addition  to,  their 
vocational  work 
proper ;  and  no  heavy 
outlay  for  plant  or 
equipment  for  this 
experiment  was  rec- 
ommended. 


Fig.  249.  —  Arena  ribbons  much  coveted.  Upper  row,  horse- 
show  ribbons ;  lower,  poultry  show.  Blue,  red,  and  yellow. 
Smith  School,  Northampton. 


B.  Referendum 
votes  by  cities 
were  provided  for 
by  the  next  legis- 
lature to  which  the 
foregoing  findings 
and  conclusions  had 
been  reported.  At 
the  next  state  elec- 
tion every  city  in 
the  state  voted  in 
favor  of  providing 

agricultural  and  horticultural  instruction  for  families.  Every  city 
was  authorized  to  provide  such  instruction,  even  to  the  extent  of 
providing  homesteads,  the  instruction  to  be  subject  to  approval  by 
the  Board  of  Education. 

C.  War  conditions  versus  conditions  of  peace.  —  War  was  de- 
clared against  Germany.  War  garden  drives  for  increased  food  pro- 
duction followed.  Vacant  city  lots,  parts  of  parks  and  playgrounds, 
even  parts  of  cemeteries,  were  immediately  put  under  cultivation  by 
families.  Supervision  and  instruction  of  the  itinerant  type  above 
proposed  were  provided  for,  both  with  and  without  state  aid,  in  all 
cities  and  villages.  Such  beneficial  results  as  those  anticipated  have 
in  large  measure  been  realized. 


336 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


It  must  be  recognized,  however,  that  conditions  have  been  favor- 
able to  a  far  greater  degree  than  they  would  have  been  if  conditions 
of  peace  had  continued.  Cemeteries,  playgrounds,  and  parks  would 
hardly  have  been  put  at  the  disposal  of  families  for  cultivation  under 
ordinary  conditions.  Slowing  down  of  real-estate  operations  and  pa- 
triotic motives  combined  to  bring  vacant  lots  under  cultivation  which 
might  have  been  withheld  in  the  absence  of  the  war. 

That  city  and  village  families  respond  to  opportunities  such  as  those 
above  proposed,  and  can  greatly  profit  thereby,  has  been  demonstrated. 


Fig.  250.  —  Graduation  in  arena.  Home-making  pupils  illustrating  by  series  of  tableaux 
advancement  from  old  to  new  in  labor-saving  methods  and  devices.  Smith  School, 
Northampton. 

D.  The  future.  —  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  war  gardening  will  lead  to 
peace  gardening.  Mr.  George  L.  Farley,  when  Superintendent  of 
Schools  in  the  City  of  Brockton,  apropos  the  adage  that  God  made 
the  country  and  man  made  the  town,  added  that  in  his  judgment 
"  the  Devil  made  the  long  summer  vacation."  Playgrounds  for 
children  have  an  important  place  in  caring  for  and  educating  children 
from  the  pavements  and  tenements.  The  author  believes  that  pro- 
vision should  be  made  by  all  cities  for  summer  education,  of  both 
children  and  adults,  which  combines  playing  with  working,  preferably 


SUGGESTIONS  TO   SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS 


337 


which  combines  gardens  with  games,  in  wholesome  balance.  If  all 
work  and  no  play  makes  Jack  a  dull  boy,  all  play  and  no  work  is  not 
the  best  corrective.  Gardening  not  only  gives  a  child  a  productive 
outdoor  task.  It  teaches  him  property  rights,  by  giving  him  some- 
thing to  have  and  to  hold,  something  to  protect  and  to  enjoy. 

One  who  has  surveyed  the  needs  and  possibilities  of  agricultural  in- 
struction for  city  or  village  families  can  hardly  escape  a  sense  of  re- 


FiG.  251.  —  Seniors  showing  methods  of  examining  horse  for  unsoundness.  Horse  on 
platform  in  arena.  New  type  of  "commencement  part"  suited  to  vocational  agricul- 
tural school.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 


sponsibility  for  making  provision  in  the  educational  program  for  such 
instruction.  The  author,  in  short,  heartily  concurs  with  Mr.  Henry 
Sterling  and  his  associates  in  the  Massachusetts  Homestead  Commis- 
sion as  to  the  sound  tendencies  of  such  education,  set  forth  in  the 
following  statement,  and  commends  them  for  consideration  in  every 
state :  "  Such  a  movement  should  be  of  vast  v^ilue  to  the  state, 
diffusing  valuable  information,  promoting  the  general  health,  improv- 
ing the  quality  of  the  citizenship,  and  reducing  congestion  and 
criminality." 


338 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


3.    Organize  Farming  on  School  Land  as  Projects 

Agricultural  school  or  department  farming  can  be  resolved  as  readily 
as  any  other  farming  into  more  or  less  independent  projects.  Efforts 
in  this  direction  will  add  materially  to  the  educational  value  of  the 
farm  work  of  any  school  or  department.  The  American  Association 
for  the  Advancement  of  Agricultural  Teaching  appointed  a  standing 
committee  on  the  use  of  land.     The  reports  of  that  committee  on  the 


;^AMPSHIRE  CO.  conference] 

iTHllRSDAY    FRIDAY        ALL    WELCOME    | 


Fig.  252.  — The  Smith  School  and  the  County  Agricultural  Schools  in  Essex,  Bristol,  and 
Norfolk  Counties  hold  annual  conferences  on  betterment  of  agricultural  production 
and  long-term  planning  for  rural  community  welfare.  Essex  is  famous  for  its  "  Farmers 
Day,"  and  Bristol  features  a  County  Fair. 

use  of  land  by  both  schools  and  high  school  departments  were  printed 
by  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education  in  Bulletins  No.  522  and 
No.  601,  which  may  be  had  through  the  Government  Printing  Office, 
Washington,  D.  C.  Projects  of  the  Northwest  School  of  Agriculture 
and  Branch  Experiment  Station,  Crookston,  Minnesota,  are  de- 
scribed as  are  projects  of  certain  high  school  departments.  These 
will  repay  examination. 

(i)  This  means  departmental  organization  and  responsibility.  — 
Organization  of  farming  on  school  land  as  projects  naturally  leads  to, 
or  follows,  departmental  organization  of  the  school  staff. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS  AND   DIRECTORS 


339 


The  agricultural  schools  in  Massachusetts  are  organized  depart- 
mentally.  Heads  of  departments  who  teach  the  projects  are  re- 
sponsible, under  the  Director,  for  the  projects  conducted  by  their 
departments.  The  cleavages  of  instruction  and  of  management  are 
vertical,  from  top  to  bottom,  not  horizontal.  Thus  there  is  no  over- 
lapping of  functions,  no  loss  of  credit  for  praiseworthy  effort,  and  no 
evasion  of  censure  for  efforts  tha,t  deserve  blame.  Needless  dupli- 
cation of  equipment  is  avoided  by  systems  of  ihterdepartment  requi- 


FiG.  253.  —  Demonstrating  tractor  plowing  on  the  school  farm  at  time  of  county  fair. 

Bristol  Coimty  Agricultural  School. 

sitions,  by  which,  with  the  approval  of  a  director,  service,  such  as 
team  work,  may  be  rendered  one  department  by  another. 

Director  G.  H.  Gilbert  of  the  Bristol  County  Agricultural  School 
has  a  score-card  method  (See  Fig.  288)  by  which  the  efficiency  of  each 
department  in  his  school  is  measured  and  compared  with  that  of  all 
other  departments. 

The  author  believes  that  all  agricultural  schools  ought  to  be  depart- 
mentally  organized,  and  ought  to  adopt  such  a  method  of  frequent  and 
systematic  supervision  as  to  prevent  negligence  and  put  a  premium 
upon  alert  and  capable  management  and  work.  The  work  of  a  de- 
partment as  a  whole  may  be  regarded  as  a  project. 

(2)  This  means,  also,  individual  responsibility.  —  Require  the  agricul- 
tural instructor  who  teaches  projects  in  a  given  department  or  division 


340 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


to  supervise  and  otherwise  assist  in  carrying  out  the  projects  of  the 
school  in  that  field.  Divided  responsibility  divides  honor  for  credit- 
able results ;  and,  equally,  it  divides  shame  for  failures.  Put  each 
man  on  his  mettle  as  an  independent  producer,  and  expect  him  to 
set  a  high  standard  of  attainment  by  which  his  boys  may  judge  their 
own  results. 

(3)   This  means  cost-accounting  every  school  project.  —  Require 
that  everv  school  project  shall  be  cost-accounted  in  exactly  the  same 


I""k;.   254.  —  Girls  of  homu-makiug  department  ready  to  serve  the  luncheon  they  ha\  e  pre- 
pared for  the  delegates  to  the  county  planning  conference.     Smith  Schpol,  Northampton. 

« 

manner  that  the  school  teaches  it  is  practical  and  imperative  for 
the  farmer  to  cost-account  his  projects.  Agricultural  specialists  are 
prone  to  charge  failures,  or  unprogressiveness,  in  farming  to  lack  of 
proper  accounting.  See  to  it  that  your  instructors  practice  what 
they  teach. 

(4)  This  means  a  written  report  on  every  project.  —  Require  a 
written  report  from  each  agricultural  instructor  upon  his  work,  ob- 
servations, and  results  in  carrying  out  his  projects  at  the  school.  Re- 
quire of  him  e.xactly  the  same  sort  of  report  that  he  requires  of  his 
boys  in  connection  with  their  projects,  and  the  sort  of  memorandum 
any  farmer  might  well  make  while  the  ups  and  downs  of  the  projects 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS 


341 


on  his  farm  for  a  season  are  still  fresh  in  his  mind.  Time  the  report 
to  come  in  at  about  the  moment  the  instructor  ought  to  be  setthng, 
roughly  at  least,  upon  his  projects  at  the  school  for  the  following 
year.  Thus  the  report  will  be  a  Hve  document,  and  not  merely  a 
perfunctory  compliance  with  a  red-tape  requirement.  Such  a  report 
is  bound  to  be,  at  its  best,  as  much  forward  as  backward  looking. 

4.    Assign  Half  of  Each  Day  at  School,  in  Consecutive  Periods,  to 

Each  Project  Study  Class  ^^ 

Spare  no  pains,  in  program  making  at  the  beginning  of  the  school 
year,  in  giving  unbroken  half-day  blocks  of  time  to  instructors  in 


Fig.  255.  —  Front  of  building  on  day  of  "Better  Babies  Contest,"  Hampshire  County 
Conference.     Note  fleet  of  baby  carriages.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 


charge  of  project  study  and  project  work.  This  suggestion  is  in  ac- 
cord with  the  statement  of  the  Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Education 
that,  "  the  time  set  aside  each  day  for  instruction  in  agriculture  should 
be  a  unit."     (Agricultural  Series  No.  i,  p.  17.) 

The  half-day  unit,  as  divided  and  described  above  in  Chapter  III, 
pages  72-76,  has  in  it  as  much  variety  and  rehef  as  if  the  pupils  were 
to  pass  from  one  non-agricultural  study  to  another.     Figs.  57  and  58, 


342  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

above,  may  assist  in  explaining  the  soundness  of  the  pedagogy  — 
of  the  psychology  and  physiology  —  of  such  a  half-day.  The  prac- 
tical convenience  will  approve  itself  to  all  concerned,  when  work,  field 
trips,  and  the  like,  for  the  time  being  displace  classroom  instruction. 

In  order  to  make  the  best  use  of  the  half-day  unit,  be  at  great  pains 
to  coach  beginners  in  the  best  methods  of  "  Supervised  Study,"  such 
methods,  for  example,  as  those  set  forth  by  Professor  Alfred  L.  Hall- 
Quest  in  his  book  on  that  subject,  and  those  in  the  report  on  "  Super- 
vised Study  and  the  Longer  School  Day,"  prepared  by  a  Committee 
of  the  High  School  Masters'  Club  of  Massachusetts  and  published 
by  the  Board  of  Education  in  1918  as  Bulletin  No.  94. 

By  combining  first  and  second  year  pupils  in  one  group,  and  third 
and  fourth  year  pupils  in  another  group,  also  by  centering  instruction 
in  stated  years  upon  stated  project  fields,  as  indicated  above  in 
Figures  47  and  48,  and  in  Chapter  III,  such  assignment  of  half-days 
is  made  easy. 

5.   Provide  for  *'  Professional  Improvement "  Work  Every  Year  for 

Every  Man 

As  previously  stated,  "  professional  improvement  "  work  is  a  funda- 
mental requirement,  and  has  been  from  the  outset,  in  the  Massachu- 
setts system  of  vocational  agricultural  education.  The  needs  and 
possible  programs  of  such  work  have,  perhaps,  been  sufiiciently  set 
forth  above  in  Chapter  VI,  on  pages  197  to  199. 

(i)  Improvement  is  possible  for  the  best  of  farmers  and  for  the  best 
of  teachers.  —  For  at  least  a  few  years  longer,  until  agricultural 
teacher-training  under  the  Smith-Hughes  Act  has  begun  to  produce 
men  of  the  right  type,  it  is  probable  that  farming  itself,  rather  than 
agricultural  colleges,  must  often  be  drawn  upon  for  instructors  of 
requisite  maturity  and  farm  experience.  One  may  sometimes  safely 
undertake  to  make  a  good  teacher  out  of  a  man  of  adequate  study  of 
technical  agricultural  subjects  and  successful  farm  experience  —  out 
of  a  graduate  of  the  school  of  "  Hard  Knocks,"  —  after  he  has  entered 
on  his  job  of  teaching.  It  would  be  suicidal  for  any  system  of  voca- 
tional agricultural  education  to  take  good  men  trained  for  teaching 
and  after  they  had  entered  on  their  jobs  of  teaching  try  to  make  them 


SUGGESTIONS  TO   SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS 


343 


successful  farmers.     Improvement,  moreover,  is  possible  for  the  best 
of  farmers  and  for  the  best  of  teachers. 

(2)  Farm-shop  work  good  winter  stop-gaps.  —  Leaves  of  absence 
for  professional  improvement  work  by  plant  project  instructors  in 
winter  tend  to  prevent  overdoses  of  book-agriculture  for  their  pupils. 
Short  units  of  a  month,  more  or  less,  in  farm-shop  work  given  by  a 
good  foreman  carpenter  who  has  trained  apprentices  and  handled 


Fig.  256.  —  Seventy-five  Hampshire  County  manufacturers  displayed  samples  of  their 
diversified  products  in  the 'arena  during  one  of  the  county  planning  conferences.  Ex- 
hibits not  to  promote  sales,  but  intended  to  promote  county  pride  and  understanding. 
Smith  School,  Northampton. 

men,  and  who  has  a  slack  season  in  his  trade,  help  to  round  out  the 
practical  education  of  the  boys  and  permit  the  school  program  to  pro- 
ceed without  interruption.  Short  leaves  of  absence  for  professional 
improvement  of  live-stock  project  instructors  in  summer  occasion  no 
interruption  of  class  instruction  and  little  inconvenience. 

(3)  Short  courses  at  the  State  Agricultural  College  are  good  winter 
stop-gaps  for  third  and  fourth  year  pupils.  Such  courses  are  accepted 
in  Massachusetts,  when  reports  of  good  work  are  shown,  in  lieu  of 


344 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL    EDUCATION 


PeopT*  Lo<fle"*  th«Sew«- 
)iftp«rs  Tim  When  They 
EcEl  For  Rooms 


Get  Together  Plan 

NORTHAMPf' 


jHi^ 


iJ 


vii-.Mi-ro:.,  M-\s 


HAMPSI^IRE  COliP^TY  COMMUNITY 

Mm  c 


^'^■^^^G  CONFERENCE  'CFS' 


work  at  a  school  or  department,  and  credited  as  meeting  in  full  the 
requirements  during  given  periods  for  vocational  agricultural  diplomas. 
If,  in  cases  of  pupils  in  agricultural  departments  of  high  schools,  high 
school  diplomas  also  are  desired,  certain  academic  losses  must,  of 
course,  be  made  up  by  previous  or  subsequent  study,  or  by  studies 
such  as  English  literature  or  composition  carried  concurrently  with 

the  winter  short  courses. 
Ideas  brought  back 
from  the  college  may 
then  be  thoroughly 
scrutinized  with  refer- 
ence to  their  apphca- 
bihty  to  the  home 
conditions  of  the  boys. 
Now  and  then  a  boy  has 
been  described  as  having 
returned  with  a  "  big 
head."  The  sober  real- 
ities of  home  life  and 
thorough  consideration 
of  ways  and  means  have 
seldom  failed  to  bring  a 
foolish  boy  to  his  senses. 
Change  of  scene  and 
glimpses  of  leading  men 
in  special  lines  of  farm- 
ing, such  as  the  winter 
short  courses  usually  afford,  have  helped  to  fire  the  ambitions  of  boys 
for  better  things ;  and,  with  the  patient  and  sensible  follow-up  work 
of  capable  local  instructors,  better  results  have  been  attained  than 
might  otherwise  have  been  possible. 

(4)  Project  plan  of  teacher-training.  —  In  some  cases  professional 
improvement  work  can  be  accomplished  concurrently  with  teaching 
and  summer  supervision.  In  fact,  the  first  steps  in  agricultural 
teacher-training  under  the  Smith-Hughes  Act  in  Massachusetts  are 
being  taken  by  an  itinerant  trainer  who  is  putting  into  effect  a  sort  of 


FINE  EXHIBIT  v.b:^  imm^m- 

SU8JEGTS  ;         ■  C'?0i;6- 
SEO  BV  WlLl  M^li 

mum 


'^.-  .■ 


MM  I vi;i*rd  ■>•  tpok*  0=   T-*  K'  ■ 


Fig.  257.  —  Prominent  newspaper  space  given  these 
conferences.  The  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College 
and  the  Hampshire  County  Farm  Bureau  were  among 
those  cooperating.  The  College  employs  an  Extension 
Service  Specialist  to  assist  in  long-term  planning. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS   AND    DIRECTORS 


345 


project  method  of  teaching  teachers  how  to  teach  after  they  get  their 
jobs.  From  September  to  the  week  before  Christmas  and  from  March 
to  June,  he  will  go  from  instructor  to  instructor  among  the  schools  and 
departments,  helping  each  man  as  he  finds  him  and  where  he  finds  him. 
In  midwinter  he  will  conduct  a  seminar  course  for  plant  project  in- 
structors, and  part  of  June  and  July  a  similar  course  for  live-stock 
project  instructors,  at  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College.  These  will 
be,  not  for  all  instructors,  but  rather  for  the  express  benefit  of  those 


Fig.  258.  —  Automobile  show  in  the  arena  featured  April  6-7,  1916,  in  connection  with  the 
county  planning  conference.  Auto-trucks  in  tent  at  rear  of  main  building.  Only 
building  in  the  county  suited  to  such  an  event.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 

whose  most  pressing  professional  improvement  need  is  to  be  there  with 
him  for  study  of  principles  and  methods  of  teaching  and  for  prepara- 
tion of  teaching  materials  and  devices.  Just  as  in  teaching  boys 
agriculture  the  project  cycle  is  from  job  to  classroom  or  laboratory 
exercise  to  job,  so  here,  for  both  trainer  and  instructor,  the  professional 
improvement  cycle  will  be  from  job  to  seminar  or  other  study  to  job. 
(5)  Promotes  permanent  tenure  and  increasing  efficiency.  —  Such 
professional  improvement  work  is  of  benefit  to  the  individual  instruc- 
tor, of  course ;  but  in  Massachusetts  it  is  done  on  school  time,  at 
school  expense,  and  is  primarily  for  the  benefit  of  the  school  or  depart- 


346  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

ment  itself.  Provided  for  ungrudgingly  and  with  a  cordially  coopera- 
tive spirit  by  both  administrator  and  instructor,  it  tends  toward 
permanent  tenure  and  constantly  increasing  efficiency. 

(6)   Require   annual  reports  on   "  professional  improvement." — 
Following  are  professional  improvement  reports  from  one  instructor, 
Mr.  Rudolf  Sussmann,  for  successive  years.     These,  with  the  ac- 
companying comment,  may  be  found  suggestive. 


Fig.  259.  —  Delegates  from  local  organizations  assembled  for  county  planning.  Group 
shows  president  of  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College,  superintendents  of  schools, 
representatives  of  selectmen,  tree  wardens,  boards  of  health,  child  welfare  workers,  and 
others,  including  state  supervisor  of  vocational  agricultural  education.  Smith  School, 
Northampton. 

Report  dated  June  4,  1914  : 

The  following  is  a  report  of  mj'  "  professional  improvement"  work, 
(i)  My  winter  leave  began  December   19th,   1913,  and  ended  February 
28th,   1914. 

(2)  My  vacation  for  rest  began  December  19th,  1913,  and  ended  January 
ist,  1914.  During  this  time,  however,  I  did  considerable  orchard  and  general 
farm  work. 

(3)  I  spent  the  time  from  January  3d  to  February  28th  at  the  Massachu- 
setts Agricultural  College  taking  work  in  the  following  subjects :  Soil  Fertility, 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS   AND    DIRECTORS 


347 


Field  Crops,  Types  and  Breeds  of  Live  Stock,  Live  Stock  Feeding,  Dairy 
Bacteriology,  Poultry,  Fruit  Growing,  and  Beekeeping. 

(4)  The  chief  reason  for  my  taking  this  work  was  to  get  in  touch  with  the 
agricultural  educators  of  the  state.  I  am  now  better  acquainted  with  them 
and  their  systems  and  theories. 

One  of  my  older  boys  wanted  to  take  beekeeping  as  a  project,  and  is  now 
doing  so.  For  that  reason  I  took  the  work  in  beekeeping.  The  work  in 
feeding,  dairy  bacteriology,  and  types  and  breeds  has  a  direct  bearing  upon  my 


■  BcxLEfi  Howe  i 
i       Roof      ; 


Rf SEARCH 


Fig.  260.  —  Events,  like  those  previously  portrayed,  wherein  the  best  products  of  young 
and  old  are  brought  sharply  into  comparison,  put  high  premiums  upon,  and  offer  strong 
incentives  to,  vocational  efficiency.  Assembling,  as  previously  portrayed,  old  and  young, 
including  representatives  of  varied  county-side  interests,  for  comparison  of  aims,  for 
long-term  planning,  and  for  consideration  of  practical  means  and  methods  of  better- 
ment, has  far-reaching  values,  cultural  and  civic.  In  short,  into  the  very  heart  of  its 
architecture,  no  less  than  into  its  day  to  day  work,  the  agricultural  school  may  build 
its  fundamental  educational  philosophy. 


348 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


present  work.     I  shall  use  my  added  knowledge  of  fruit  growing  this  fall  and  of 
course  soil  fertility  has  a  direct  bearing  on  all  of  my  work. 

(5)  At  the  present  time  I  have  no  definite  plans  for  my  "  professional  im- 
provement "  time  for  the  coming  school  year. 

FORMS   OF    EXTENSION   WORK 

AND 

CORRELATION  OF  AGENCIES  FOR  EXTENSION  SERVICE 


AGRICULTURAL 
COLLEGE 


U.S.  DEPARTMENT 
OF  /V^CULT\iRE 


EXPERIMENT 
STATION 


Fig.  261.  —  An  institution  organized  like  this  may  justly  claim  for  its  slogan,  "I  serve." 
It  indicates  a  preliminary  survey  of  existing  agencies,  and  a,  policy,  not  of  displacement 
or  suppression,  hut  of  cooperation.  It  shows  a  determination  not  to  overlook  and  not  to 
overlap,  —  a  px)licy  for  any  institution,  large  or  small,  which  cannot  be  too  warmly 
commended.  Printed  by  courtesy  of  Director  C.  R.  Titlow,  Agricultural  E.xtension 
Department,  West  Virginia  University,  Morgantown,  W.  Va. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS  AND   DIRECTORS 


349 


Report  dated  May  3,  1915  : 

1  hereby  file  a  report  on  my  "  professional  improvement  "  work  for  1914- 

1915- 

I  spent  my  time  from  December  gth  to  March  8th,  with  the  exception  of 
,"  conference  week  "  at  Amherst  (February  23  to  27),  in  Ashfield,  and  neigh- 
boring towns. 

I  gave  a  great  deal  of  my  time  to  cooperating  with  the  manager  of  the 
"  Ashfield  Cooperative  Exchange."  Together  we  visited  farmers  almost  daily, 
talking  and  figuring  with  them  on  fertilizers,  spraying  goods,  lime,  etc.  Through 
our  efforts  six  cars  (150  tons)  of  lime,  forty-five  tons  of  fertilizing  material  for 

In  THE  Serviceof  Essex  County 


VtCtTABLEGARDCNING^ 
DAIRYING  I 

SWINEANO  SHEEP  RAISIN0[ 
GENERAL  FARMING     / 


MOMf  MAKING 

FRUIT  GROWING 

POULTRr  RAISING 

FLORICULTURE 


I  PRACTICA  L  DEUOMSTRATIONS    IV  B0Y5  ""GfRLS  Ct  UBS 
PHUMIMO.  SPRAYING  [TC  

n  Tcsr  Plots  ON  Farms 

1 1  ME  rCRTIUZERSOYBEANScn 
m  COOPCRATION 

a  PUflCHASt  Of  FAHU  SUPPUli 

fr  uahhthk  Of  fAiti  PRooucn 


t  cAimm  I  cAimiiK,  cu/es 
YH0Ml£C0N0M/CS 

CAHNWO.Cl/kSStSACHIBS 

B  MiSaUANEOUS 

exTlMSWM  SCHOOLS 
COMSUVATIOH  COUUITTUi 
(MAS,  fOa  AOWItU  ITC 


Fig.  262.  —  The  above  chart  hangs  on  the  walls  of  the  Essex  County  .Agricultural  School.  It 
graphically  presents  the  harmonized  and  interlocked  activities  of  vocational  instruction 
and  farm  bureau  work.  The  spirit  and  methods  of  the  county  school  in  Massachusetts 
are  cooperative,     bee  pages  357-398. 


350  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

home  mixing,  and  one  car  of  lime-sulphur  and  arsenate  of  lead  were  brought 
into  Ashfield. 

Early  in  January  I  prepared  a  set  of  fertilizer  formulas,  which  I  used  as  a 
basis  for  advising  the  individual  farmers  what  to  order.  This  set  of  formulas 
was  worked  out  with  regard  to  the  potash  situation  this  year.  We  succeeded 
in  getting  all  the  potash  we  needed  (9  per  cent)  at  $61.00  per  ton. 

I  feel  that  this  work  was  of  very  great  value  to  me  in  my  work.  I  got  into 
the  fertilizer  question  m'ore  deeply  and  thoroughly  than  I  could  have  in  any 
other  way.  Each  farm  presented  a  new  and  different  problem.  In  the  near 
future,  I  will  be  able,  because  of  data  that  I  now  have^  to  show  my  pupils  spe- 
cific cases  of  success  or  failure  with  lime,  fertilizers,  and  sprays. 

I  believe  that,  because  of  our  conferences  on  the  matter,  the  farmers  who 
have  ordered  fertilizers  this  year  realize  more  than  ever  the  economic  im- 
portance of  knowing  just  what  chemicals  they  need  and  using  them  only. 

Besides  working  with  the  manager  of  the  exchange,  I  gave  considerable 
attention  to  poultry  breeding  (line  breeding),  dairying,  and  pruning. 

Several  of  my  pupils  undertook  to  prune  large  orchards  and  I  spent  consider- 
able time  supervising  them. 

I  spent  several  hours  each  day  in  study  and  preparing  lessons  and  material 
for  the  spring  class  work  which  began  on  March  8. 

As  a  result  of  my  work  here  this  winter,  I  feel  as  though  I  had  a  better 
agricultural  grip  on  the  community.  I  know  more  about  the  resources  of  the 
farms  and  the  farmer.  I  know  more  about  the  soil,  the  crops,  and  the  systems 
of  farming  used  here. 

All  this  will  be  of  vast  value  to  me  in  my  work  with  the  boys,  for  they  come 
from  farms  where  the  conditions  are  the  same  as,  or  similar  to,  those  that  I 
have  studied  this  winter. 

In  using  the  community  for  a  textbook,  as  it  were,  I  feel  that  I  got  the  most 
possible  benefit  for  the  time  spent  in  "  professional  improvement." 

Though  Mr.  Sussmann  modestly  made  no  mention  of  it,  the  fact  is 
that  he  brought  about  the  organization  of  the  Ashfield  Cooperative 
Exchange.  He  was  helped  in  this  by  Dr.  Alexander  Cance,  Professor 
of  Economics  at  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College,  whose  acquaint- 
ance he  made  during  his  first  winter  professional  improvement  work. 
A  further  fact  should  be  stated.  Mr.  Sussmann  followed  up  his  drive 
for  purchase  of  spray  materials  by  the  carload  with  a  drive  to  grade 
all  apples  from  sprayed  trees,  to  employ  only  impartial  and  expert 
packers  for  the  grading  and  packing,  and  to  sell  .the  apples  under  a 
special  Ashfield  label ;   all  of  which  was  done. 

His  next  logical  step  in  a  sort  of  project  method  of  professional  im- 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS  351 

provement,  therefore,  was  to  undertake  the  study  of  markets  for  fruit 
so  sprayed,  graded,  and  packed.  With  the  definite  objective,  there- 
fore, of  finding  an  appreciative  market  for  the  Ashfield  apples  under 
label  then  in  storage,  a  study  of  markets  and  marketing  was  approved 
for  his  next  professional  improvement  work,  the  work  to  be  done  under 
the  direction  of  Dr.  Cance.  A  market  was  found  for  the  apples,  — 
a  market  so  appreciative  that  the  following  year  the  crop  similarly 
prepared  for  market  was  instantly  contracted  for  at  15  cents  a  barrel 
above  the  ruling  price,  provided  the  fruit  opened  as  well  as  that  of 
the  previous  winter. 

In  addition  to  Mr.  Sussmann's  apple  market  study  in  Springfield, 
Worcester,  Boston,  and  New  York,  certain  other  items  of  his  winter 
work  in  1915-1916  were  the  following: 

Dec.  18-23  Attended    conference    of    agricultural    instructors,    county 

agents,  and  college  extension  workers  at  Amherst. 

Jan.  9-10  Attended  milk  meeting  in  Boston. 

Jan.  i2-Feb.  3     Practical  pruning  studies. 

Feb.  5-8  Demonstrations    and    lectures    for    Franklin    County    f^arm 

Bureau. 

Feb.  12-17  Continued  work  for  Franklin  County  Farm  Bureau. 

March  4  Resumed  teaching  at  Ashfield. 

March  15  Discussed    Massachusetts    plan    for    vocational   agricultural 

teaching  in  secondary  schools  before  New  England  Super- 
intendents at  Harvard  University. 

March  22-24  ^lade  special  drive  with  adult  farmers  to  get  them  to  use 
lime  and  fertilizers  in  larger  quantities. 

Mr.  Sussmann  was  new  to  the  state ;  hence  his  first  winter  at  the 
State  Agricultural  College.  He  began  at  Ashfield  with  salary  at  $1 200 
a  year.  He  is  now  in  his  second  year  in  charge  of  the  vocational 
agricultural  department  in  Reading  High  School,  where  his  salary  is 
$2220  a  year.  There  are  records  of  admirable  professional  improve- 
ment work  done  by  other  instructors  still  in  the  service.  These  men 
are  becoming  more  valuable  every  year.  The  foregoing  notes  and 
reports  may  suffice,  however,  to  indicate  the  aims,  spirit,  and  values 
of  such  work,  and  the  desirability  of  making  it  a  matter  of  cumula- 
tive and  permanent  record.  Professional  improvement  is  safe  insur- 
ance against  educational  dry-rot. 


WHAT  one  COmUMITY  FOUND 

ORQANIZATIOMS   5ELr-CENTERED 


L 


n.  t.T }.,„c.  -  c^....\,  o.^...,.u^ 


'     This  chart  is  exaggerated  to  lend  emphasis  but  it  gives  a  true  picture  of  the  general  tendency 
among  local  organizations  to  put  their  own  selfish  interests  first  and  the  lack  of  planning. 

Fig.  263.  —  Good  community  organization  is  no  less  important  than  that  of  county  and 
state.  The  above  chart  and  th(>  charts  in  Figures  264  and  265  are  from  "Mobilizing 
the  Rural  Community,"  Extension  Bulletin  23,  Sept.,  1918,  issued  by  Massachusetts 
Agricultural  College,  Amherst,  Mass. 

352 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS  AND   DIRECTORS         353 

6.    Require  Teaching  by  Projects,  not  by  Subjects 

(i)  Require  preliminary  project  surveys  and  agreements.  —  There 
can  be  little  assurance  that  instruction  will  be  by  sound  and  thorough 
project  teaching,  as  distinguished  from  subject  teaching,  in  the  absence 
of  evidence  that  each  agricultural  instructor  has  first-hand  knowledge 
of  the  home  farm  conditions  of  each  boy  in  his  class.  A  combined 
home-farm  survey  and  application  and  agreement  card  has  been  found 
serviceable  in  Massachusetts.  The  front  of  the  card  for  day  class 
pupils  is  shown  in  Fig.  290,  page  390 ;  and  the  back  of  it,  in  Fig.  291, 
page  391.  This  card  is  a  stock  size,  4"  x  6".  It  will  be  noticed  that 
this  is  a  tab-card.  A  similar  card  for  evening  class  pupils  is  shown, 
front  and  back,  in  Figs.  294  and  295,  pages  400  and  401.  You  may 
make  assurance  doubly  sure  that  such  surveys  are  made  by  requiring 
instructors  to  file  summaries  of  these  preliminary  surveys  with  you  at 
the  beginning  of  each  new  school  year  covering  all  pupils  admitted. 
The  first  summary  of  this  sort  filed  in  Massachusetts  is  shown  in 
Fig.  292,  page  392.     Somewhat  better  summaries  are  now  on  record. 

(2)  Require  systematic  project  inspection  and  supervision  records. 
—  If  back  of  the  cards  described  above  are  filed  copies  of  proj- 
ect inspection  and  instruction  slips  like  that  shown  in  Fig.  303, 
page  427,  reasonable  assurance  may  be  had  that  the  agricultural  teach- 
ing is  centering  on  the  projects  for  which  the  boys  are  preparing  or 
which  they  have  seasonably  undertaken.  The  slips  may  be  made  up 
in  pads  to  be  inserted  in  covers  like  that  shown  in  Fig.  303,  page  427. 
Oilcloth  covers  have  been  found  to  be  more  satisfactory  than  board 
covers,  because  they  suffer  less  damage  from  sweat  and  rain.  One 
color  is  used  for  the  sheet  left  with  the  pupil ;  and  another,  for  the 
sheet  filed  at  the  school  or  department. 

Such  inspection  and  instruction  records  are  invaluable  in  case  of 
change  of  instructors.  The  new  man  can  see  at  a  glance  what  expe- 
rience his  predecessor  has  had  in  dealing  with  parents  and  pupils. 
They  are  valuable,  too,  in  cases  of  controversy.  If  the  instruction 
has  been  sound,  and  if  the  instructor  has  been  particular  to  ask  that 
each  slip  be  signed  before  leaving  it,  his  slip  becomes  a  voucher.  On 
a  given  date  he  was  at  a  given  place  and  left  the  commendation,  the 

2A 


354 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


WHAT  THIS  con nUNITY  DID 

IT  MOBILIZED    FOR  RESULTS 


THE  riRST  COnnUNlTY  HEETING 

THStE   TNiNOS   ABE  CONSIDERED 
13  IT  POSSIbLE    FOR  A  COnrUNITY   TO   PLAN  FOR    ITS   FUTUBE  DEVeWPMEUT? 
DO  UE  CARE  TO   DO   IT?    13    IT  UORTM  UHILB? 
IF   SO  HOUCAN    IT  -BE  DOKE' 

IF  Dtcmori  13  pwoeiBiEconnirrg;  »E  apfowedto  jtoy  t3jk  amp  bepobt  cmnnE  PBogCTS  F<»i the ccnmi  \'j^ 


THE   SECOND  COnnUNlTY  riEETlNG 

A  mm»  AfTES  THE  FI03T 

HEARS  REPORT   OF   COnniHEES   CONCERNINQ    PLANS    OB    PROJECTS 

FOR    THE    COMING    YEAR       THOSE    ADOPTED    BECOHE 

THE  COnnU.NITlES   WORKING  PgOGBAM 


'n.n.u.<i„.itAr^.iujcjUf. 
— r.u..  5..™-c I,  - 


This  chart  shows  the  actual  steps  taken  by  the  community  in  mobilizing  its  forces  and  developing 
a  practical  working  program. 

Fig.  264. — Steps  in  community  organization.     See  also  Figs.  263  and  265. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO   SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS  355 

criticism,  or  the  directions  indicated.  An  impartial  committee  may 
then  judge  as  between  him  and  any  accuser.  If  wrong,  he  cannot 
escape ;  if  right,  his  voucher,  signed  both  by  himself  and  another, 
is  his  sufficient  defense.  In  itinerant  teaching  and  in  occasional  ad- 
visory work,  such  records  are  conducive  to  simplicity  and  definiteness 
of  statement,  and  are  important  aids  to  the  memory  of  both  advisers 
and  ad\dsed,  of  both  taught  and  teacher. 

(3)  Require  project  study  outline  making  or  adaptation.  —  Project 
study  outlines  made  by  each  instructor  to  lit  exactly  the  home  condi- ' 
tions  he  finds  are  most  to  be  desired.     Examples  of  such  outhnes  were 
presented  above  in  Chapter  IV. 

More  rapid  headway  can  be  made  by  adopting  a  state  system  of 
uniform  numbering  for  reference  materials,  like  that  presented  above 
in  Chapter  V,  and  by  combining  and  printing  outlines  for  use 
throughout  the  state  system.  If  the  latter  plan  is  followed,  each  in- 
structor must  interline  questions  and  references  at  many  points, 
and  must  mark  for  each  boy  material  which  is  at  once  within  that 
boy's  grasp  and  suited  to  the  demands  of  his  particular  project.  In 
this  case,  too,  the  tendency  to  "  lie  down  "  on  the  outHne  made  by 
others  or  by  another,  to  "  take  it  from  cover  to  cover,"  must  be 
guarded  against. 

If  a  state  system  of  uniform  numbering  of  reference  materials  is 
not  perferred,  it  is  still  highly  desirable  to  reduce  the  labor  of  outline 
making  as  much  as  possible  by  eliminating  all  unnecessary  writing. 
Each  outline  may  have  its  special  bibhography  with  arbitrary  numbers 
assigned  entries.  Then,  by  such  a  price  tag  device  as  that  shown  in 
Fig.  51,  page  65,  the  books  may  temporarily,  during  the  period  covered 
by  the  study  of  that  outline,  be  given  those  arbitrarily  assigned  bibliog- 
raphy numbers. 

(4)  Require  seasonal  planning  of  related  study  and  practice.  — 
Require  planning  of  instruction  which  shall  not  merely  be  seasonal  and 
show  the  time  allotments  during  the  year  to  the  several  stages  of  proj- 
ect work,  but  which,  also,  shall  show  what  shop,  laboratory,  and 
other  related  study  exercises  are  to  be  given  from  month  tt)  month. 
Examples  of  such  seasonal  outlines  are  shown  below  in  Figs.  296, 
297,  and  298. 


356 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


This  chart  is  also  exaggerated  to  give  emphasis.  It  shows  the  goal  toward  which  a  community 
should  work — a  definite  working  program  with  all  groups  bound  together  for  the  achievement  of  the 
common  good. 

Fig.  265.  —  A  long-term  program  for  a  rural  community.     See  also  Figs.  263  and  264. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO   SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS  357 

By  such  means,  the  instructor  forecasts  the  work  for  the  year,  and 
is  able  to  apportion  time  with  intelligent  reference  to  the  relative 
degrees  of  importance  of  the  various  elements  of  work  and  study  which 
should  receive  attention. 

That  projects,  themselves,  differ,  that  they  ought  not  all  to  be 
taught  alike,  and  that  this  fact  has  a  direct  bearing  upon  the  seasonal 
planning  of  instruction  is  appreciated  by  the  pupils  themselves.  This 
is  clearly  evident,  for  example,  in  the  excerpts  from  the  written  report 
of  a  fourth-year  pupil  given  on  pages  428  and  430. 

7.    Provide  for  Teamwork 

It  is  taken  for  granted  that  all  engaged  in  vocational  agricultural 
education  will  work  in  the  closest  harmony  with  the  Federal  Board 
for  Vocational  Education.  This  Board  is  bound  to  exert  a  powerful 
influence  upon  aims,  methods,  and  standards  throughout  the  country. 
The  United  States  Bureau  of  Education  must  approve  all  federal  aid 
for  instruction  given  by  the  state  agricultural  colleges ;  and  the 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  is  the  appro\nng  body  in 
connection  with  federal  aid  for  agricultural  experiment  station 
and  extension  work  done  by  the  State  Colleges  of  Agriculture. 
It  is  fortunate  that  both  the  Bureau  and  the  Department  are 
represented  in  the  membership  of  the  Federal  Board  for  Vocational 
Education.  Harmony  throughout  the  federal-aided  systems  of  agri- 
cultural education  of  all  grades,  in  the  long  run,  should  be  well 
assured. 

Possible  lack  of  harmony  in  the  several  states  at  the  outset  of  the 
general  movement  for  vocational  agricultural  education,  however, 
has  been  frankly  recognized.  In  the  fields  of  federal-aided  vocational 
agricultural  education  and  of  extension  work  aided  and  controlled 
jointly  by  the  agricultural  colleges  and  the  United  States  Department 
of  Agriculture,  there  are  certain  twilight  zones.  Both  have  authority 
to  work  with  both  young  people  and  adults.  The  former  must  provide 
systematic  instruction,  including  at  least  six  months  every  year  of 
supervised  work  on  farms.  The  latter  must  also  carry  instruction 
to  farms.  A  joint  committee  of  the  Federal  Board  for  Vocational 
Education  and  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  has 


No  frills.     Office,  workroom,  and  incubator  cellar. 


These  packages  ready  for  shipment  to  Oregon,  Arkansas,  and  Brazil. 
Fig.  266.  —  Instructor  Burke  of  Hadley  did  his  professional  improvement  work,  the  winter 
of    1918,  on  Pratt  Experiment   Farms,  Morton,  Penn.,    noted   for  Pekin  and   Indian 
Runner  ducks,  S.  C.  White  Leghorns,  R.  C.  and  S.  C.  Black  Minorcas. 

358 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS  359 

declared  that  a  plan  for  each  state  should  be  worked  out  by  the  ad- 
ministrative officers  in  charge  of  vocational  agricultural  education  and 
the  director  of  agricultural  extension  work  to  provide  for  cooperation, 
division  of  labor,  and  prevention  of  dupHcation  in  expenditure  of 
federal  funds  within  any  given  area.^  It  is  no  less  important  that 
there  should  be  similar  cooperation,  division  of  labor,  and  prevention 
of  duplication  of  effort  and  expenditures,  as  between  vocational  agri- 
cultural schools  or  departments  and  other  state  and  local  agencies 
which  have  to  do  with  agricultural  education. 

Teamwork,  in  short,  is  desirable  all  along  the  line.  Following  are 
suggested  procedures  such  as  those  by  which  good  teamwork  is  being 
promoted  in  Massachusetts. 

(i)  Cooperate  with  educators.  —  Of  foremost  importance  is  it  that 
there  should  be  close  cooperation  among  those  who  are  receiving 
public  funds  for  agricultural  education,  in  order  that  there  shall  be 
neither  "  overlapping  "  nor  "  overlooking." 

A.  Cooperate  with  the  State  Agricultural  College.  —  The  problem 
of  teamwork  between  vocational  agricultural  instructors  and  the 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  has  been  simplified  by  an 
agreement  that  the  extension  work  of  that  Department  in  Massachu- 
setts shall  be  done  through,  or  in  cooperation  with,  the  Massachusetts 
Agricultural  College.  This  applies  both  to  extension  work  centering 
at  the  College  and  to  extension  work  aided  by  state  and  federal  funds 
which  is  done  by  .the  county  farm  bureaus. 

At  the  College  the  past  five  years  joint  conferences  have  been  held 
in  winter  of  vocational  agricultural  directors  and  instructors,  agri- 
cultural county  agents,  and  college  extension  workers.  More  recently 
these  have  been  held  the  week  before  Christmas.  Winter  short  course 
crowds  have  thus  been  avoided,  and  specialists,  College,  Station,  and 
Extension,  have  been  able  to  be  present.  At  these  conferences  proj- 
ects and  policies  for  the  following  year  have  been  agreed  upon.  Good 
teamwork  could  hardly  be  expected  in  the  absence  of  such  conferences. 
Not  everything  desired  has  yet  been  accomplished,  but  much  headway 
has  been  made.     The  programs  have  been  arranged  jointly  by  the 

'  See  Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Educatiun,  Bulletin  No.  13,  Agricultural  Series  No.  i, 
pages  22-23. 


360 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


Three  baby  Shetlands  sired  by 
"King  Edward  XX." 


King  Edward  XX,"  10032,  registered 
Shetland  stallion. 


In  rough  winter  coals.     Hardy.     i-url\  111  ihc 
herd. 


Jessie  Queen,"  147 10,  sired  by  "King 
Edward  XX." 


Fig.  267.  — Pony  farm  in  Raynham,  owned  by  Mrs.  W.  A.  King.  A  business  investment. 
"  King  Edward  XX  "  is  valued  at  more  than  S300.  "Jessie  Queen  "  sold  to  family  in  Brook- 
line,  Mass.  Mrs.  King  says  six  ponies  could  be  kept  for  the  cost  of  one  horse  fed  12  qts. 
of  grain  a  day ;  and  that  if  more  farm  boys  had  ponies  of  their  own,  fewer  would  leave 
home.  Visited  in  19 17  by  the  -'Conference  on  Wheels"  of  agricultural  directors  and 
instructors. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS  36 1 

Director  of  the  Extension  Service  and  the  author  as  state  supervisor 
of  vocational  agricultural  education. 

The  College,  instead  of  employing  a  big  staff  of  little  men  to  deal 
with  individual  farmers,  has  employed  a  relatively  small  staff  of  big 
men  —  men  who  in  a  very  real  sense  have  been  specialists.  These 
specialists  assist  vocational  agricultural  instructors  and  county  agents 
in  emergencies.  Their  service  is  primarily  to  groups  of  farmers,  and 
to  agricultural  directors,  instructors,  and  county  agents.  Local 
arrangements  for  visits,  demonstrations,  and  short  courses  are  made 
by  the  local  directors,  instructors,  or  agents,  and  the  follow-up  work 
is  done  by  the  local  men.  The  relationship  and  functions  are  not 
unlike  those  of  the  general  practitioner  and  the  specialist  in  medicine 
or  surgery.  The  local  men  are  the  first  diagnosticians.  The  spe- 
cialists are  the  consultants  or  perform  the  major  operations.  The  local 
men  take  care  of  the  day  to  day,  week  to  Week,  or  month  to  month 
treatment.  Thus,  in  essential  and  valuable  ways,  each  aids  and  sup- 
plements the  work  of  the  other. 

Of  course,  the  College,  including  the  Experiment  Station,  ought 
to  be,  and  is,  a  sound  and  indispensable  source  of  agricultural  subject- 
matter  ;  and  to  the  College  is  reserved  all  purely  research  or  experi- 
mental work. 

Because  it  is  the  most  important  source  of  agricultural  subject- 
matter  in  the  state  and  because  it  is  the  home  office  of  the  agricultural 
specialists,  the  College  is  the  place  where  the  seminar  work  in  agricul- 
tural teacher-training  will  be  done. 

B.  Cooperate  with  other  state  agencies  for  agricultural  education. 
—  The  State  Board  of  Agriculture  in  Massachusetts  has  educational 
duties.  Of  special  value  has  been  its  policy  of  putting  both  practical 
farmers  and  agricultural  professors  and  research  men  on  the  same 
platform  at  its  annual  meeting,  and  of  printing  both  their  discussions 
and  the  discussions  from  the  floor.  Much  material  of  value  to  voca- 
tional agricultural  instructors  has  thus  been  prepared,  and  has  been 
distributed  to  them  gratis  on  their  request.  This  Board  also  handles 
all  state  grants  for  agricultural  prizes,  and  has  valued  suggestions 
from  those  responsible  for  vocational  agricultural  education  as  to 
kinds  of  desirable  contests  and  the  awarding  of  the  prizes.     It  has  had 


362 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


funds  with  which  to  provide  for  local  lectures  and  has  welcomed  re- 
quests from  instructors  for  such  lectures.  In  other  ways  the  Board 
has  responded  to  requests  of  instructors  for  help. 

The  State  Forester, 
also,  has  welcomed  re- 
quests for  printed  mat- 
ter, for  lectures,  for 
young  trees  to  use 
in  forest  planting  on 
school  or  home  land 
and  for  help  in  gypsy 
and  brown-tail  moth 
control,  control  of  the 
chestnut  bark  disease 
and  the  like. 

Such  sources  of  as- 
sistance should  not  be 
overlooked. 

C.  Cooperate  with 
county  farm  bureaus. — 
It  is  the  ruling  practice, 
with  hardly  an  excep- 
tion in  Massachusetts, 
that  the  agricultural  in- 
structors represent  the 
farm  bureaus  in  meet- 
ing most  of  the  needs 
for  agricultural  county 
agent  work  in  their 
several  localities,  and 
in  heading  up  the  local 
agricultural  club  work. 
This   economizes    time 


Fig.  268.  —  Pleasure  horses  are  bred  by  Massachusetts 
men.  "Marlboro,"  hackney  stallion,  owned  by  Judge 
W.  H.  Moore  of  Pride's  Crossing,  Mass.,  and  New  York 
City.  Get  of  "Marlboro"  won  nine  blues  and  a 
championship  in  1917,  and  eleven  firsts,  five  seconds, 
one  third,  two  championships,  and  two  reserves  in  191 8, 
at  the  New  York  Horse  Show.  In  19 18,  Judge  Moore 
won  a  leg  on  the  American  Hackney  Horse  Society's 
$1000  cup  for  the  best  team  of  hackneys,  bred  and 
driven  by  the  owner.  His  team  consisted  of  four  bays 
by  "  Marlboro "  —  "  Seaton  Cyrano,"  "MoncriefE," 
"  Mona,"  and  "  Medea."  It  was  the  first  four-in-hand 
team  ever  shown  at  the  Garden  of  horses  bred  by  the 
driver,  the  author  was  told  ;  and  the  first  time  in  America, 
if  not  in  the  world,  that  four  hackneys  ever  have  been 
shown  under  these  arduous  conditions. 


and  travel  for  the  farm  bureau  men,  and  enlarges  the  acquaintance  of 
the  instructors  with  farmers  not  represented  by  boys  in  their  classes, 
and  with  their  pressing  problems.     Where  the  farm  bureaus  are  es- 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS  AND   DIRECTORS 


3^3 


pecially  strong  and  maintain  a  staff  of  specialists,  the  supplementary 
relationship  of  the  instructors  and  these  specialists  is  like  that  above 
described  between  the  instructors  and  the  specialists  of  the  agricultural 
college  extension  service. 
The  author  proposed, 
and  was  able  to  have 
introduced  into  the  legis- 
lation authorizing  county 
aid  for  farm  bureaus, 
the  provision  that  there 
shall  not  be  a  separately 
organized  county-aided 
farm  bureau  in  a  county 
which  maintains  a  county 
agricultural  school.  The 
county  agricultural 
schools  maintain  both 
farm  bureau  staffs  and 
staffs  for  vocational  agri- 
cultural education.  The 
staffs  of  these  schools  in- 
clude agricultural  county 
agents,  home-demonstra- 
tion agents,  and  agricul- 
tural and  home-making 
club  leaders.  The  school 
speciaUsts  assist  the 
farm  bureau  workers, 
and  vice  versa. 

In  Massachusetts, 
therefore,  in  the  counties 
of    Essex,    Bristol,    and 

Norfolk  where  there  are  such  county  schools,  there  is  perfect  team- 
work. 

Wherever  county  schools  are  maintained,  the  author  is  profoundly 
of  the  opinion  that  such  unity  and  harmony  of  administration  and 


1 

' 

■^k^ 

:S^0r           -^ 

t; 

f) 

-J 

^ikMmm'-- 

^HK, .                        •-  i*-5w^^^^HI 

•^^ 

mtm^.-:^s 

Fig.  269.  —  ''Seaton  Saxton,"  sired  by  "Marlboro" 
and  typical  of  his  get  in  solid  color,  in  conformation 
and  quality,  and  in  action^  Six  weeks  old.  Judge 
Moore  saj's  this  is  best  age  at  which  to  select.  If  good 
at  this  age  and  nothing  happens  to  them,  likely  to  be 
prize  winners  at  maturity.  His  manager,  Mr.  George 
Chipchase,  agrees.  At  the  New  York  Horse  Show  in 
igiS,  at  three  years  old  "Seaton  Saxton"  won  two 
blues  and  the  championship  challenge  cup.  "  Seaton 
Dunbar,"  also  by  "  Marlboro,"  was  sold  in  the  ring 
for  $  5CMDO  to  one  of  the  saddle  horse  judges.  Judge 
Moore  refused  an  offer  of  $  10,000  for  "  Seaton  Sax- 
ton." From  stable  of  national  and  international  prize 
winners. 


364 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


instruction  as  the  foregoing  should  be  regarded  as  fundamental 
to  economical  and  efficient  expenditure  of  effort  and  of  public 
funds. 

D.  Hold  "conferences  on  wheels."  —  In  addition  to  assembling 
the  agricultural  directors  and  instructors  for  the  joint  conference  in 
December  with  the  College  Extension  Service  and  farm  bureau  work- 
ers, the  author,  as  state  supervisor,  has  called  the  agricultural  directors 
and  instructors  together  annually  in  midsummer  for  a  conference 
with  each  other  on  methods  of  instruction  and  supervision. 


Fig.  270.  —  "Scimmeter,"  son  of  pure-bred  Arab  stallion,  "Segario,"  Major  Vidmer  up, 
at  El  Paso,  after  5  years  in  U.  S.  Cavalry.  Bred  and  presented  to  Major  Vidmer  by  Mr. 
Spencer  Borden.     Dam,  trotting-bred. 

This  conference  has  generally  been  held  late  in  July  and  early  in 
August,  at  the  time  of  the  annual  Rural  Progress  Conference  called 
by  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College  at  Amherst.  Incidentally 
the  men  have  been  shown  how  the  college  men  practice  on  the  college 
farm  in  summer  the  doctrines  promulgated  by  them  in  winter  as 
practicable  for  the  improvement  of  farming  elsewhere  in  the  state. 
Incidentally,  also,  they  have  become  acquainted  with  the  ideas  and 
aims  of  workers  in  the  numerous  organizations  which,  in  one  way  or 
another,  have  betterment  of  farming  and  country  life  at  heart. 

More  recently,  the  summer  conference  plan  has  been  modified. 
The  directors  and  instructors  met  in  191 7  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 


SUGGESTIONS  TO   SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS 


365 


state.  An  itinerary  for  the  week  was  planned  which  began  in  Essex 
County  and  ended  on  Cape  Cod.  Opportunity  for  conference  on 
methods  and  equipment  was  given,  but  also  opportunity  to  observe 
methods  and  equipment  in  use.  A  man  scheduled  to  open  a  discus- 
sion opened  that  discussion  on  his  own  premises.  His  discussion  had 
not  only  the  force  of  his  words  and  of  his  reasoning ;  it  had,  also,  the 
force  of  his  example.     His  fellows  could  see  that  he  had  what  he  said 


Fig.  271.  —  A  sister  of  "Scimmeter."  Mr.  Borden  has  been  breeding  .^rabs  and  Arab 
crosses  for  20  years,  and  has  presented  a  half  dozen  to  oflScers  for  the  grueling  tests 
of  cavarr>'  service.  His  fine  animals  were  seen  at  "Interlachen,"  Fall  River,  Mass.,  in 
1917  by  the  "Conference  on  Wheels." 


he  had  to  work  with ;  and  that  he  did  with  it  what  he  said  he  did.  In 
particular,  the  achievements  of  his  pupils  were  judged  on  the  spot. 
Home  projects  were  visited,  school  projects  were  looked  over,  and  calls 
at  notable  farms  were  made  en  route.  Such  conferences  bring  theory 
down  to  the  bed  rock  of  practice.  They  make  possible  the  most  in- 
timate and  personal  exchange  of  ideas.  They  promote  pleasant 
fellowship  in  service.  They  impress  the  individual  instructor  with 
the  feeling  that  his  school  or  department  is  not  a  lone  post  of  solitary 
endeavor,  but  part  of  a  movement  state-wide  in  its  sweep.     And  they 


366 


VOCATIOX.\L  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


tend  to  elevate  educational  practice  everywhere  to  the  highest  level 
found  anywhere. 

The  dominant  theme  of  the  19 17  Summer  conference  was  "  Super- 
vised Study."  Discussion  of  it  was  opened  and  conducted  by  its  well- 
known  advocate  and  exemplar,  Professor  Alfred  L.  Hall-Quest. 
Travel  was  by  automobile,  instructors  who  came  without  their  cars 
paying  2^  cents  a  mile.  Professor  Hall-Quest  said  that  was  the  first 
conference  of  the  sort  in  which  he  ever  had  participated.     He  called 


Fig.  272.  — "Segario,"  pure-bred  Arab  stallion,  owner,  Mr.  Spencer  Borden,  up.     Sire  of 
"Scimmeter"  and  other  winners  in  peace  and  war. 

it  a  "  Conference  on  Wheels,"  and  said  he  thought  that  type  ought 
to  be  adopted  for  other  teachers. 

Conferences  of  vocational  agricultural  instructors,  with  the  domi- 
nant themes  varied  from  year  to  year,  are  indispensable  aids  to  pro- 
fessional progress.  The  1918  conference  was  held  in  the  west  central 
part  of  the  state,  with  headquarters  at  Massachusetts  Agricultural 
College.  Thus,  in  alternate  years  both  the  State  College  projects  and 
the  projects  of  schools  and  departments  are  seen.  The  author  is  of  the 
opinion  that  in  this  field  of  education,  at  least,  no  summer  conference 
can  be  made  so  valuable  as  can  the  conference  that  is  held  on  wheels. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS  AND   DIRECTORS 


367 


The  summer  and  winter  conferences  described  in  this  chapter  cover 
together  about  two  weeks,  and  are  the  irreducible  minimum  of  pro- 
fessional improvement  activities  required  annually  of  all  directors  and 
instructors.     In  them  all  heartily  cooperate  both  for  their  own  good 


Fig.  273.  —  '"Halcyon,"  three-quarters  Arab  and  one-quarter  thoroughbred.  Famous  long- 
distance saddle  mare.  Winner  in  1913  of  Morgan  Horse  Club  endurance  ride,  ending  at 
White  River  Junction  Fair  Grounds.  Carried  180  pounds.  Covered  154  miles  in  30 
hours  and  40  minutes.  Photograph  above  taken  at  finish  of  this  race.  At  1913  National 
Horse  Show  in  New  York,  she  was  the  only  American  horse  in  the  ribbons  in  the  broad 
jump  for  ofBcers'  chargers,  covering  18  feet  6  inches  and  beating  53  horses  representing 
the  armies  of  seven  nations,  including  all  those  entered  by  England,  Canada,  and  the 
United  States.  Dam  of  "Kingfisher."  Bred  and  owned  by  Mr.  Spencer  Borden.  See 
Figs.  274,  275,  and  276. 


and  for  the  good  of  the  vocational  agricultural  education  service 
throughout  the  Commonwealth. 

(2)  Cooperate  with  farmers.  A.  Broadsides  of  criticism.  —  In 
the  name  of,  or  on  behalf  of,  the  farmer,  occasional  broadsides  of 
criticism  are  hurled  at  the  older  agricultural  education  system  of  the 


368 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


SUGGESTIONS  TO   SUPERVISORS   AND    DIRECTORS  369 

country.  In  spite  of  a  half-century  of  effort,  it  is  charged  that  little 
of  real  effect  for  the  improvement  of  agriculture  has  been  accomplished. 
In  1916,  for  example,  Messrs.  Lapp  and  Mote,  on  page  50  of  their  book, 
"  Learning  to  Earn,"  stated  the  case  thus :  "  .  .  .  after  forty  years 
of  agricultufal  education,  such  as  it  has  been,  we  are  confronted  with 
worse  conditions  than  when  knowledge  of  agriculture  first  began  to 
get  serious  attention.  Average  yields  of  farm  crops  have  been  either 
practically  at  a  dead  level  or  are  decreasing,  the  soil  is  being  exhausted 
at  an  alarming  rate,  tenantry  is  increasing,  the  rural  population  is 
shifting  to  the  city,  and  the  cost  of  living  rises  at  a  rate  far  in  excess 
of  increased  capacity  to  pay.  The  facts  are  simply  that  the  data  of 
agricultural  science  have  not  been  put  into  the  possession  of  the  men 
who  till  the  soil."  There  have  been  others  who  have  even  charged 
that  the  older  system  has  been  all  wrong. 

B.  A  fair  answer  to  such  broadsides,  whether  against  the  agricul- 
tural education  system  of  the  country  or  against  that  of  any  state,  is 
not  to  say  that  the  system  has  been  all  right.  There  are  certain  in- 
herent and  inescapable  defects  in  long-range  service  which  can  only 
be  remedied  by  service  at  short  range.  The  state  agricultural  colleges 
and  experiment  stations  as  a  whole  adopted  this  view  when  they  re- 
quested the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  not  to  do  any 
work  of  instruction  or  research  in  their  several  states,  except  through 
definite  projects  mutually  agreed  upon  and  cooperatively  carried  out 
by  them  and  the  Department.  The  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture  acquiesced  in  this  view  when  it  became  a  party  to  a  memo- 
rable "  memorandum  of  agreement  "  to  the  foregoing  effect. 

C.  The  long-distance  (educator.  —  The  agricultural  educator  under 
the  old  system  had  the  defects  of  his  virtues.  It  was  important  that 
the  investigator  should  withdraw  from  the  tumult  of  affairs  in  order 
that  in  working  out  solutions  of  certain  problems  fundamental  to 
improved  farming,  he  might  be  unhurried  and  unworried.  It  was 
important  that  the  college  professor  should  realize  that  by  his  success 
in  the  preparation  of  men  trained  in  certain  fundamental  details  of 
method  and  technique  for  investigation,  his  professional  standing  was 
in  no  small  measure  to  be  judged.  But  both  methods  and  language 
became  more  and  more  technical,  less  and  less  like  the  methods  and 

2  B 


370 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


the  language  found  on  farms.  It  will  be  hardly  going  too  far  to  say 
that  a  feeling  of  caste  crept  in,  that  the  professor  of  the  book  and  of 
the  laboratory  and  the  investigator  of  the  laboratory  and  of  the  re- 
search bulletin  came  to  look  upon  other  so-called  educators  as  being 
not  of  the  elect,  as  being  somehow  inferior,  in  fact  pseudo-agricultural 
scientists,  or  even  panderers  to  popular  favor. 


Copyright  by  Underwood  &  Underwood,  N.  V. 

Fig.  275.  —  "Kingfisher"  at  end  of  Villa  raid.     See  Figs.  274  and  276. 


The  long-distance  man  did  not  speak  the  language  of  the  farmer. 
In  extreme  cases,  he  hardly  so  much  as  set  foot  on  a  farm.  There 
came  a  time,  therefore,  when  administrators  of  agricultural  education 
themselves  said  that  this  condition  of  things  was  not  all  right. 

D.  The  middle-distance  educator.  —  Administrators  of  agricultural 
education  did  not,  of  course,  throw  away  what  had  been  gained.  It 
probably  is  true  that  training  of  agricultural  research  workers,  and 
that  agricultural  research  itself,  profound  and  unhurried,  were  never 
better  safeguarded  than  now.  On  the  contrary,  they  took  steps  to 
remedy  the  defects  of  the  virtues  of  the  system  by  training  and  putting 
into  service  the  middle-distance  man,  the  man  who  spoke  the  language 


SUGGESTIONS  TO   SUPERVISORS  AND   DIRECTORS 


371 


of  the  farmer,  who  understood  the  language  of  the  scientist,  and  who 
could  stand  as  interpreter  between  the  two.  Such  middle  distance 
men  were  the  editor  of  the  so-called  popular  agricultural  circular  or 
farmers'  bulletin  and  the  itinerant  agricultural  extension  worker. 

E.    The  short-distance  educator.  —  Shorter  distance  men  than  even 
the  agricultural  editor  and  extension  worker  were  found  necessary. 


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Fig.  276.  —  "Kingfisher,"  Colonel  Frank  Tompkins  up,  two  years  after  the  Villa  raid. 
Blue  ribbon  winner  in  contest  for  best  officer's  mount  at  Camp  Devens,  Ayer,  Mass.,  in 
1918.  When  Colonel  Tompkins  was  ordered  "over  there"  and  directed  to  leave  his 
horse  here,  Mr.  Borden  told  him  he  would  take  care  of  "Kingfisher"  at  "Interlachen." 
See  Figs.  270  to  275.     "Interlachen"  visited  by  1917  "Conference  on  Wheels." 

The  Congress  probably  never  had  had  its  ear  closer  to  the  ground  than 
when  it  adopted  the  policy  and  provided  for  the  program  of  a  county 
agricultural  agent  for  every  county  in  the  country,  and,  almost  simul- 
taneously, provided  federal  aid  for,  next  to  the  farmer  himself,  the 
shortest  distance  man  of  all  —  the  vocational  agricultural  instructor. 


372  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTUR.\L  EDUCATION 

The  vocational  agricultural  instructor  where  the  home-project  plan 
is  in  operation  finds  himself  as  much  on  farms  as  in  classroom  or  labo- 
ratory. The  institution  he  serves  can  never  become  an  end  in  itself. 
His  task  is  to  bring  to  bear  for  the  benefit  of  farmers  he  knows,  old 
or  young,  and  of  the  farms  on  which  with  them  he  works,  the  best  the 
agricultural  education  system  of  the  country  has  been  able  at  any 
time  and  anywhere  to  develop.  In  short,  it  may  suffice  to  say  that,  if 
the  home-project  plan  of  teaching  agriculture  is  generally  adopted. 


Fic  277.  — "Fairholme  Footprint,"  Grand  Champion  Clydesdale  staUion  at  the  In- 
ternational in  1916  and  1918;  Champion  with  get  in  1918.  A  prepotent  sire.  Owned 
by  Mr.  F.  L.  Ames  of  "Langwater  Farms,"  North  Easton,  Mass.     See  Fig.  278. 

and  if  the  right  spirit  and  methods  of  cooperation  prevail,  the  system 
of  agricultural  education  in  the  country  as  a  whole  can  be  put  into 
perfect  balance  and  kept  in  perfect  working  order. 

F.  Give  farmers  a  place  of  honor  and  influence.  —  But  farmmg 
cannot  be  done  for  farmers,  it  must  be  done  with  them  and  in  the  last 
analysis  by  them.  As  vital  to  the  success  of  vocational  agricultural 
education,  therefore,  is  cooperation  with  farmers  as  is  cooperation 
with  educators. 

a.  Invite  farmers  to  cooperate  as  advisers.  — If  farmers  assist  in 
adapting  a  course  of  study  to  local  needs,  they  will  understand  the 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS 


373 


contemplated  values  of  that  course  a  thousand  times  better  than  if 
it  is  merely  prepared  for  them ;  and  their  attitude  toward  it  will  be 
radically  different  from  what  it  would  have  been  if  they  had  felt  the 
course  had  been  thrust  upon  them.  Similarly,  if  they  assist  in  the 
selection  of  an  instructor,  they  will  feel  that  he  is  their  man  and  that 
they  must  do  everything  possible  to  help  him  to  succeed,  —  an  attitude 
toward  him  devoutly  to  be  desired. 

b.   Invite  farmers  to  cooperate  in  instruction.  —  More  than  one 
instructor  will  find  farmers  in  his  locality  who  can  teach  certain  things 


Fig.  278.  —  '■  Jess  of  Craig\villie,"  jirtd  b\      I  airli 'Inu-  1  iinipriiu.''     Beside  her  pure-bred 
dam.     "Langwater  Jessica, "yearling,  sold  for  $3000.     See  Fig.  201. 


better  than  he  can  teach  them.  He  need  not  announce  this  from  the 
housetops;  but  he  will  be  honoring  real  merit  and  strengthening  the 
work  of  his  courses,  if  he  will  invite,  or  persuade,  if  necessary,  such 
farmers  to  demonstrate  for  his  pupils  and  the  public  their  ways  of  doing 
those  things.  On  the  other  hand,  if  he  has  been  well  chosen,  there 
will  be  hardly  a  farmer  in  his  locality  to  whom  he  cannot  render  val- 
uable service;  and  the  farmer  who  feels  that  he  has  helped  the  in- 
structor is  so  much  the  more  willing  to  be  helped  by  the  instructor. 
Agricultural  instructors  who  have  neither  land  nor  Hve-stock  are  most 


374  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

fortunately  placed  for  promoting  such  cooperation.     Possession  of 
land  or  live-stock  may  hinder,  but  it  ought  not  to  prevent  it. 

c.  Invite  fanners  to  examine  pupils.  —  No  more  valuable  super- 
vision of  instruction  in  Massachusetts  has  ever  been  given  than  that 
in  which  advisory  committee  members  have  participated.  Farmers 
have  visited  classes,  observed  work,  asked  questions,  and  made  com- 
ment out  of  their  ripe  experience.     They  have  visited  projects  at 


F,G  ^79  -'•Langwater  Steadfast,"  one  of  the  famous  Guernsey  sires  of  Langwater 
Farms  "  Mr  F.  L.  Ames,  the  owner,  center,  in  Home  Guard  Uniform.  Two  North 
Easton  Agricultural  Department  boys  working  here.  Mr.  Ames  showed  his  fine 
Guernseys  and  Clydesdales  to  the  1917  "Conference  on  Wheels,"  and  kept  the  party 
of  more-  than  fifty  to  dinner.     See  also  Figs.  190,  201,  277  and  278. 

schools  and  on  the  home  farms  of  the  pupils,  and  their  words  of  en- 
couragement or  of  admonition  have  been  invaluable  aids  to  progress. 
Public  exercises  at  which  pupils  have  made  demonstrations  and  re- 
ports have  held  farmers  for  two  and  three  hours,  have  contributed  to 
the  interest  of  the  pupils  in  their  work,  and,  incidentally,  have  led  to 
requests  from  farmers  present  for  short  units  of  instruction  in  one  or 
another  of  the  fields  of  agricultural  science  or  farm  practice  dealt  with 
in  these  exercises.  Of  course,  in  a  very  important  sense,  every  pupil 
who  conducts  a  home  project  is  under  perpetual  examination  by  both 


SUGGESTIONS  TO   SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS  375 

his  parents  and  his  neighbors  ;  since  they  are  on  tiptoe  to  know  what 
he  is  doing,  how  he  is  doing  it,  and  why  he  is  doing  it  that  way  instead 
of  some  other  way. 

d.  Avoid  dormitories  as  a  hindrance  to  cooperation  with  farmers. 
—  Recently  the  author  received  a  request  from  the  superintendent 
of  an  agricultural  school  in  another  state  for  information  about  the 
home-project  plan.  Not  long  after  he  received  an  acknowledgment, 
accompanied  by  the  statement  that  the  superintendent  found  the 
plan  not  adapted  to  his  conditions.  There  must  have  been  farms  and 
farmers  all  about  him.  There  must  have  been  farm  boys  in  his  classes. 
One  can  only  surmise  that  his  had  become  a  school  of  the  self-contained 


Fig.  280.  —  "Conference  on  Wheels"  at  one  of  its  stops.     Group  photographed  on  front 
steps  of  Bristol  County  Agricultural  School.     See  pages  364-367. 

type  in  which  dormitories  had  come  between  him  and  the  farms  of  his 
locality. 

Dormitory  schools  may  become  good  health  resorts.  Farming 
has  the  reputation  of  being  a  health-giving  or  a  health-sustaining 
occupation.  If  an  agricultural  school  is  in  a  desirable  location  and 
has  modern  sanitary  appointments,  the  tendency  is  for  it  to  become 
the  mecca  of  pupils  in  precarious  health  whose  parents  are  more  in- 
terested in  physical  betterment  than  in  vocational  agricultural  educa- 
tion. 

Or,  dormitory  schools  may  become  good  reform  schools.  Dormitory 
schools  not  infrequently  include  military  training  in  their  curricula. 
Any  good  dormitory  school  becomes  well  known  for  its  strict  discipUne, 
with  the  result  that  parents  of  more  or  less  incorrigible  pupils  rest 


376  VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 

upon  their  rights  as  taxpayers  and  in  their  hearts  seek  the  benefits 
of  the  school  as  a  disciplinary  institution  rather  than  as  a  school  for 
vocational  agricultural  education. 

Of  course  good  health  and  good  discipline  are  everywhere  and 
always  to  be  desired.  But  there  is  the  modern  axiom  in  caring  for 
wards  of  the  state  that  "  Almost  any  home  is  better  for  a  child  than 
almost  any  institution."  Good  health  and  good  discipline  can  be  had 
without  dormitories. 

Certain  it  is  that  vocational  agricultural  pupils  should,  from  the 
first  moment,  be  looked  upon  and  treated  primarily  as  farmers.  Living 
and  working  on  farms,  preferably  not  on  school  farms,  throughout  the 


Fig.  281.  —  All  work  and  no  play  makes  Jack  a  dull  boy.  Athletic  field.  Convenient  and 
spacious.  For  indoors  recreation  space  see  Arena,  Fig.  241.  Lockers,  shower  baths, 
hot  and  cold  water.     Smith  School,  Northampton. 

course  of  training,  are  regarded  by  the  author  as  most  to  be  desired. 
The  hours  are  farm  hours  ;  the  food,  farm  food.  Pupils  "  keep  their 
hands  in  "  on  farm  work.  It  is  notoriously  difficult  to  "  get  your 
hand  in  "  again,  once  you  have  got  it  out  of  any  occupation.  If  the 
projects  of  a  school  are  real  farm  projects,  and  if  all  of  the  work  is 
done  by  pupils,  then  a  small  percentage  of  the  enrollment  may  be  able 
to  keep  their  hands  in  on  the  manifold  operations  of  farming  at  a 
school.  Their  ability  to  do  this,  however,  will  depend  upon  keeping 
the  number  employed  small,  too  small  to  justify  a  dormitory  system  in 
any  ordinary  sense  of  the  term. 

e.  Make  school  land  and  live-stock  help  and  not  hinder  coopera- 
tion with  farmers.  —  Land  and  live-stock  and  attendant  operations 
at  a  school  tend  to  make  a  school  self-sufi&cient,  to  absorb  the  energies 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS 


377 


of  the  instructors  and  thus  keep  them  away  from  farmers.  In  pro- 
portion as  the  farming  operations  of  a  school  succeed  and  approach 
a  grand  scale,  its  products  compete  for  a  market  with  the  products 
of  private  producers.  Such  competition  has  been  known  to  create 
bitter  antagonism  on  the  part  of  farmers.  Such  competition  tends  to 
keep  farmers  away  from  the  school. 

The  farming  of  a  school  is  thankless.  If  it  succeeds,  the  very  com- 
mon feeling  is  that  it  does  so  because  back  of  it  is  "a.  barrel  of  public 
money."     If  now  and  then  the  school  fails  in  a  project,  as  the  best 


Fig.  282.  —  Inter-county  school  meet.  Same  boy  that  won  cross-country  run  had  won 
^^th  acre  plowing  contest  judged  by  a  practical  farmer.  Other  contests  included  seed 
identification.  Winner  separated  out  and  correctly  named  4g  out  of  the  50  varieties 
of  grass  and  weed  seeds  that  had  been  mixed  together  on  a  table.  Essex  County 
Agricultural  School  the  host  of  this  meet. 


farmers  themselves  sometimes  do,  the  very  common  feeling  is  that  this 
is  scandalous,  —  an  inexcusable  squandering  of  public  funds.  In 
almost  any  case,  possession  of  land  and  live-stock  by  a  school  makes 
cordial  cooperation  with  farmers  exceedingly  difhcult. 

Except  as  educator  and  farmer  are  able  to  unite  for  direct  and  im- 
mediate improvement  in  the  farming  of  farmers,  any  system  of  agri- 
cultural education  must  be  held  to  be  futile,  to  be  of  no  proper  effect 
as  an  agency  for  the  public  good.  All  honor  to  any  school  with  land 
and  live-stock,  therefore,  if  its  operations  are  so  ordered  that  its  farm- 
ing is  a  means  to  an  end,  not  an  end  in  itself;   that  farmers  arc  not 


378 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


alienated  and  kept  away  from  the  school  with  which  they  ought  to 
be  working ;  and  that  the  instructors  are  not  kept  away  from  farmers 
with  whom  they  ought  to  be  working. 

(3)  Model  types  of  organization  for  teamwork.  A.  Vocational  agri- 
cultural education  and  farm  bureau  work  united  in  a  county  agricultural 
school.  —  A  model  organization  for  teamwork  with  educators  in  the 
author's  opinion  has  been  found,  as  stated  on  page  193,  in  the  Massa- 
chusetts type  of  county  agricultural  school  with  its  combination  of 
farm  bureau  work  and  vocational  agricultural  education,  carried  out 
by  its  staffs  of  short-distance  men.     The  author  believes  that  this  type 


Fig.  283.  —  Baseball  game  after  haying.     Bristol  County  Agricultural  School. 

of  school  is  equally  a  model  of  organization  for  teamwork  with  farmers, 
particularly  in  its  latest  form  in  the  county  of  Norfolk. 

The  author,  as  state  supervisor,  recommended,  and  the  trustees 
of  the  Norfolk  County  School  adopted,  the  policy  of  undertaking  to 
keep  the  central  school  small,  and  to  supplement  its  work  at' the  central 
point  by  maintenance  of  one-teacher  branches  in  high  schools  at  the 
more  distant  points  in  the  county.  Sixty  boys  at  the  central  school 
would  warrant  the  employment  of  four  instructors  and  make  possible 
a  degree  of  specialization  in  the  staff.  The  short-distance  boy  is  as 
much  to  be  desired  as  is  the  short-distance  educator.-  Sixty  boys  can 
be  recruited  within  an  easy-travel  radius  of  the  central  school.     The 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS 


379 


outlying  branches  will  provide  for  smaller  groups  of  even  shorter  dis- 
tance boys  than  many  of  those  enrolled  at  the  central  school.  All 
boys  and  instructors  can  be  assembled  at  the  central  school  on  notable 
county  occasions ;  and  a  building  of  the  special  arena  designs  shown 
in  Fig.  236  has  been  provided  for  distinctively  agricultural  events, 
such  as  indoor  demonstrations  of  animals,  implements,  or  machines, 
judging  contests,  and  even  contests  in  athletics. 

The  central  school  and  a  branch  in  the  Weymouth  High  School  at 
the  eastern   end  of   Norfolk  County    were  opened  simultaneously. 


Fig.  284.  —  Rope  pull  across  the  school  pond.     Inter-class  annual  event.     Bristol  County 

Agricultural  School. 

The  Weymouth  instructor  is  a  member  of  the  school  staff  and  his 
salary  is  paid  from  the  funds  of  the  school.  The  school  also  provides 
all  of  his  portable  agricultural  reference  materials  and  equipment. 
The  course  of  study  of  the  central  school  is  like  that  of  the  other  sepa- 
rate and  county  schools  shown  above  in  Fig.  188.  The  course  of 
study  of  the  branch  is  like  that  of  the  high  school  agricultural  de- 
partments shown  above  in  Fig.  189.  The  Weymouth  High  School 
provides  a  library-laboratory  study  room  and  all  necessary  fi.xtures. 
It  also  provides  the  non-vocational  half  of  the  instruction.  The 
Weymouth  instructor,  except  in  rare  emergencies,  represents  the 
school  in  its  farm  bureau  work  with  both  children  and  adults.  Other 
branches  will  be  opened  as  needed. 


Fig.  285.  —  George  Freeman's  trained  steers.  They  did  many  other  tricks.  Trained  them 
after  supper,  he  said.  Met  all  comers  at  fall  fairs.  Paid  himself  $2  a  day,  all  expenses, 
and  cleared  $83  in  prizes,  fall  of  1914.  See  also  Figs.  139,  140,  and  141.  Now  married 
and  at  home  with  his  father.  Trained  center  pair  in  1913.  Little  chaps  will  be  better 
workers  because  of  their  early  training.     Brimfield  Agriculture  Department. 

380 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS  AND   DIRECTORS         38 1 

The  Norfolk  County  School  has  but  little  land  and  live-stock.  Like 
the  other  separate  and  county  schools,  as  elsewhere  stated,  it  has  no 
dormitory.  It  is  more  a  service  system  than  it  is  an  institution.  It 
is  more  a  distributing  agency  than  it  is  a  monument.  Between  the 
school  and  farmers  there  is  no  barrier.  It  is  finding  that  boys  living 
and  working  on  their  home  farms  are  real  farmers,  and  that  coopera- 
tion with  their  fathers  is  easy.  It  is  finding  that  boys  found  a  chance 
to  live  and  work  on  farms  in  the  vicinity  of  a  school  or  department 
may  also  be  real  farmers  throughout  their  courses,  and  that  cooperation 
with  the  farmers  with  whom  they  live  and  for  whom  they  work  is  not 
difficult. 

Essex  is  an  extremely  compact  county,  hardly  more  than  twenty 
miles  across  in  any  direction,  and  is  a  perfect  network  of  steam  and 
electric  railway  lines.  Need  for  outlying  branches  is  less  felt  in  this 
county  and  such  branches  may  not  be  established.  That  its  work 
and  farming  are  united  may  be  inferred  from  the  chart  showing  its 
activities  and  relationships  printed  above  as  Fig.  262. 

Bristol  is  a  shoe-string  county,  long  and  narrow.  The  school  has 
before  it  a  petition  to  take  over  as  a  branch  the  agricultural  depart- 
ment in  the  high  school  at  North  Easton  which  was  estabhshed  in 
the  extreme  northern  end  of  the  county  before  the  school  was  opened 
at  the  center.  There  may  be  need  of  four  branches  to  complete  a 
well-balanced,  short-distance  service  system  in  this  county.  Mean- 
time this  school  has  both  land  and  live-stock,  and  yet  is  able  to  w^ork 
well  with  a  gradually  growing  number  of  farmers. 

The  field  of  vocational  agricultural  education  is  the  field  par  ex- 
cellence of  short-range  service.  Its  organization  should  not  be  that 
of  an  agricultural  college.  Its  organization  should  be  for  work  by 
short-distance  men  with  short-distance  farmers,  primarily,  including 
both  boys  and  men ;  and,  incidentally,  for  similar  short-range  serv- 
ice with  families  that  have  land  or  live-stock,  though  perhaps  not 
very  much,  which  they  desire  to  make  contribute  to  their  support. 

B.  A  service  system,  without  publicly  owned  land  or  live-stock, 
in  which  high  school  agricultural  department  work  and  farm  bureau 
work  are  unified  and  harmonized  in  one  office  for  each  county  is  worth 
a  trial.     The  author  hopes  and  believes  that  such  an  organization  may 


Pillor>'-     Smith  School  boys. 


Going  to  church.     Townspeople. 


iJrunkard  .>  punishment.     Smith  School  boy. 

Fig.  286.  —  Glimpses  of  the  Northampton  pageant  attended  by  thousands.    Smith  College 

presented  it.     Delightful  form 
382 


-^  !\OBt=MAjV> 


Stocks.     Smith  School  bovs. 


Morris  dance.     Smith  School  boys  and  girls. 


Indian  chiefs  song  to  the  Great  Spirit.     Smith  College  professor, 
and  Smith  Agricultural    School   faculties   and  students  and  townspeople,  high  and  low, 
of  community  recreation. 

383 


384  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

sometime  be  developed  in  the  other  counties,  an  organization  for  team- 
work where  the  short-range  service  of  each  will  center  in  an  office  as 
headquarters,  instead  of  on  a  county  school  farm,  where  the  service 
will  be  distributed  through  the  carefully  unified  and  harmonized 
labors  of  middle-distance  county  agricultural  agents  and  short-dis- 
tance vocational  instructors  in  high  school  agricultural  departments, 
and  where  the  work  will  be  done  with  farmers  and  families  wholly 
on  land  privately  owned  and  controlled. 

(4)  Fight  for  service,  not  for  leadership  —  Too  often  new  move- 
ments in  education  are  launched  in  utter  disregard  for  previous  ac- 
complishments and  present  agencies.  An  agricultural  college  presi- 
dent may  alienate  not  a  few  who  ought  to  be  his  closest  co-workers 
by  coming  into  a  state  with  a  conception  and  a  program  preconceived 
which  appear  to  assume  that  either  nothing  has  before  been  done  of 
value  or  importance  in  the  general  agricultural  education  of  the  state, 
or  that  what  has  been  done  has  been  done  badly  or  by  the  wrong 
people.  A  farm  bureau  may  solicit  support  in  utter  disregard  of  local 
agencies  for  doing  some  of  the  things  the  farm  bureau  proposes  to 
do.  Such  mistakes  have  been  made.  The  besetting  sin  in  such  cases 
is  the  battle  for  leadership. 

The  situation  becomes  but  the  more  difficult,  if,  as  generally  hap- 
pens, the  dominant  note  of  the  would-be  leader  is  that  of  the  uplifter. 
Mr.  Roosevelt  ^  has  expressed  the  instinctive  attitude  in  which  most 
decent  people  find  themselves  when  confronted  by  such  a  person. 

"  There  are  few  more  irritating  companions,"  he  says,  "  than  the 
self-conscious  uplifter.  The  way  to  help  others  is  to  join  with  them 
in  some  form  of  effort  or  expression  to  which  all  contribute  for  the 
good  of  all.  Only  thus  can  we  foster  the  two  homely  virtues  which 
He  at  the  bottom  of  what  is  best  in  Americanism  —  self-respect  and 
mutuality  of  respect." 

Vocational  agricultural  education  should  no  more  be  vitiated  by 
the  taint  of  the  uplifter,  than  should  be  kindergarten  education  or 
any  other  phase  of  education  for  normally,  gradually  developing  young 
people.  Ours  is  not  a  slumming  job.  It  calls,  not  for  preachers,  but 
for  teachers;    not  for  reform    so   much  as  for  constructive  service. 

'  Metropolitan,  April,  igi8,  p.  8. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO   SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS  385 

And  in  the  lifelong  educational  process,  adults  are  but  young  people 
grown  a  little  older.  Moreover,  education,  in  the  nature  of  the  case, 
calls  for  division  of  labor.  In  fact,  civilization  has  been  the  achieve- 
ment of  a  multitude  of  educational  agencies,  —  so  many  that  to  name 
them  would  be  to  catalogue  most  of  the  activities  of  any  hour  or  year, 
of  any  locality  or  nation. 

In  the  author's  judgment,  the  state  supervisor,  local  director,  and 
superintendent  ought  here  to  be  well  warned.     Just  as  in  intramural 


Fig.  287.  —  "Appreciation"  through  interpretation.  English  classrooms  may  be  trans- 
formed from  torture  chambers  into  places  of  delight  by  presentation  of  plays.  Some 
of  Miss  Metcalf's  pupils  who  played  "Hymen,"  "Rosalind,"  and  "Celia."  Smith 
School,  Northampton. 

activities  they  require  the  instructor  to  make  a  preliminary  survey 
of  the  home  farm  of  the  boy  and  win  the  cooperation  of  the  parent 
prior  to  admitting  that  boy  to  his  class,  so  there  ought  to  be  a  survey 
of  the  educational  agencies  of  a  state,  of  a  county  and  of  a  locality 
prior  to  launching  the  first  extramural  activities  of  a  school  or  of  a 
department.  Then  every  effort  ought  to  be  made  to  work  with  and 
through  those  agencies.  The  author  reprints  above  in  Fig.  261  a 
diagram  which,  in  and  of  itself,  well  entitles  the  West  Virginia  institu- 
tion it  represents  to  claim  for  its  slogan  the  motto,  "  I  serve." 
2  c 


386  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 

Similar  in  spirit  is  the  chart  in  Fig.  262,  before  referred  to,  in 
which  are  set  forth  the  activities  of  a  vocational  agricultural  school 
in  Massachusetts.  The  three  self-explanatory  charts  in  Figures  263, 
264,  and  265  will  richly  reward  study  and  efforts  in  the  direction  they 
indicate. 

Fine  examples  of  service  are  all  about  us.  Three  or  four  examples 
may  serve  to  illustrate  responses  to  calls  for  extramural  activity. 

Here  is  an  instance  of  a  response  by  the  superintendent  of  schools 
in  the  city  of  North  Adams,  which  maintains  an  itinerant  vocational 
agricultural  instructor.  Note  how  he  signs  this  newspaper  announce- 
ment. Note,  also,  that  there  is  no  hint  that  the  school  department  is 
to  be  paramount. 

"  Preliminary  Announcement 

"  The  food  administration  has  created  a  Food  Production  and  Conservation 
Committee  in  each  city  and  town  of  our  commonwealth  as  a  wartime  emer- 
gency measure.  It  is  the  business  of  this  committee  to  stimulate,  encourage, 
advise,  direct,  and  otherwise  assist  our  citizens  in  divers  waj's  and  places  and 
at  various  times,  to  greatly  increase  the  home  production  and  conservation  of 

foods. 

******* 

It  is  our  expectation  and  earnest  desire  to  be  of  real  assistance  and  to  fully 
justify  our  existence  as  a  committee  : 

First  —  By  organizing,  directing,  and  supervising  garden  areas  in  various 
parts  of  the  city  on  a  community  or  group  basis. 

Second  —  By  encouraging  individual  gardens  and  stimulating  individual 
farmers. 

Third  —  By  cooperation  with  school  garden  projects. 

Fourth  —  By  providing  fertilizers  and  tested  seeds  at  cost. 

Fijth  —  By  providing  in  this  department  timely  information,  garden  hints, 
conservation  notes,  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture  leaflets  edited  and  ar- 
ranged to  meet  local  conditions,  and  a  question  box. 

Sixth  —  By  arranging  local  meetings  for  food  and  garden  talks. 

Seventh  —  By  proper  attention  to  spra\'ing  fruit  and  vegetables. 

Eighth  —  By  providing  a  community  kitchen  under  skilled  supervision 
where  surplus  or  purchased  products  may  be  preserved  for  individuals  at  a 
small  cost  for  service. 

Ninth  —  By  providing  some  type  of  public  market  or  exchange  for  surplus 
food  products. 

Tenth  —  By  cooperating  with  all  other  committees  or  agencies  for  public 
welfare. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS   AND    DIRECTORS 


387 


EfSciency  Record  for  Month  Ending 


Perfect  Score 

Winter 

Summer 

T 

De 
A. 

B. 
C. 

CI 
A. 
B. 

C. 
D. 
E. 
F. 

He 
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 

nartment  —  Administration 

25 

SO 

Riisinpss  ^lanaeement 

10 

5 
10 

50 

20 

1.  Pupils  —  punctual,  industrious,  effective 

2.  Tools  and  equipment  —  care,  condition 

3.  Production  —  plans,  condition 

4.  ^Marketing 

5.  Finance  —  expenditures,  economy,  results 
Neatness 

10 

1.  Orderliness 

2.  Cleanliness 

3.  Buildings  and  equipment  at  their 
As  Laboratory  for  Instruction 

best? 

20 

JT 

1.  Approved  methods  and  practices 

2.  Equipment  adequate  but  not  elaborate 

3.  Laboratory  assignments  well  carried  out 

issroom 

Condition 

5 
10 

5 

5 

10 

15 
25 

Facilities  for  teaching     ..... 

1.  Laboratory  materials 

2.  Illustrative  materials 

3.  Decorations 

Enrollment 

Attendance 

Discioline 

Instruction 

III. 

)me  Projects 

Plans        

5° 

5 

5 

5 

10 

10 

SuDervision 

10 

Records         

10 

Products,  etc 

20 

100 

100 

Note.     Score  about  weekly,  publish  monthly. 

Fig.  288.  —  Separate  and  County  schools  in  Massachusetts  are  organized  departmentally. 
Director  Gilbert  of  Bristol  County  School  uses  the  above  form  of  score  card  in  his  weekly 
supervision  of  departments.  He  posts  the  score  of  each  department,  or  makes  it  the 
basis  of  personal  commendation  or  reproof.  The  author  has  seen  no  better  aid  to  eflScient 
supervision  than  this. 


388  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

We  shall  have  a  place  for  much  volunteer  service,  so  do  not  wait  to  be  asked. 
We  shall  welcome  suggestions.  We  shall  strive  diligently  to  have  our  efforts 
carry  over  into  results  sufficiently  to  cause  this  movement  to  gain  momentum 
as  the  weeks  pass.  It  is  our  expectation  that  when  we  strike  our  balance  this 
next  fall,  it  will  be  evident  that  North  Adams  has  been  very  much  more  self- 
supporting  than  previously,  that  our  people  have  accumulated  a  cellar  food 
supply  in  excess  of  other  years,  and  that  we  have  through  it  all  helped  defeat 
the  greedy  Hun. 

Btirr  J.  Merriam, 
March  20,  1918.  For  the  Committee." 

FoUownng  is  an  example  of  the  very  exacting  scientiiic  service  an 
instructor  may  be  able  to  render.  Mr.  Swett  is  vocational  agricul- 
tural instructor  in  Newton,  and  this  report  was  to  the  Newton  Com- 
mittee on  Public  Safety  on  a  bit  of  emergency  service. 

"  Report  on  Inspection  for  the  European  Com  Borer 
(Pyrausta  Nubilalis  Htibner) 

"  During  the  week  of  April  22  to  27,  I  personally  examined  over  1000  speci- 
mens of  corn  stubble,  standing  corn,  and  stalks  piled  in  gardens. 

These  inspections  were  made  in  Newton,  Nonantum,  Newtonville,  West 
Xewton,  .\uburndale,  Lower  Falls,  "Upper  Falls,  Waban,  Newton  Highlands, 
and  Newton  Center.  Also  in  the  outside  cities  of  Watertown,  Waltham, 
Weston,  Cochituate,  and  Framingham. 

As  1  am  personally  familiar  with  the  appearance  of  this  borer,  I  feel  sure  that, 
as  the  result  of  my  examinations  was  entirely  negative,  it  may  be  safely  taken 
for  granted  that  the  above-named  cities  are  free  from  this  pest. 

Respectfully  submitted, 
Raymond  W.  Swett." 
April  27,  19 1 8. 

No  less  interesting  is  the  following  example  of  the  unpaid  public 
service  an  instructor  may  render,  and  of  the  posts  of  honor  and  re- 
sponsibility he  may  be  invited  to  till.  This  is  the  unsigned  report 
dated  April  12,  1918,  of  Mr.  A.  W.  DooHttle,  head  of  the  two-teacher 
vocational  agricultural  department  in  Concord  High  School,  who  is 
serving  as  chairman  of  the  Food  Production  Committee  of  the  town  of 
Concord. 

"  I.  Attended  meeting  of  County  Food  Supervisors  at  the  State  House 
February  i. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS  389 

2.  Corresponded  with  the  National  and  State  Food  Administrations  in 
regard  to  the  order  prohibiting  the  farmer  from  mixing  feed  wheat  in  poultry 
rations,  and  secured  a  modification  of  the  same. 

3.  Sent  two  circular  letters  to  farmers  giving  poultry  ration. 

4.  Sent  two  circular  letters  to  the  farmers  in  regard  to  importance  of  testing 
seed  corn. 

5.  Purchased  a  bushel  of  shelled  field  corn  for  seed  for  the  farmers. 

6.  Sent  letters  to  churches,  lodges,  clubs,  and  factories,  on  the  necessity  of 
food  production. 


Name  ^yA-cxJi^ci^yz ,  1^^^^^'^^^^  Concord  Farm  Survey- 

Taken '/f//i>  Acreage  Z,i7, 
Address  yiv^i,;.^  ^J>onZ  Revised     -^lijiS 

Stock:   Horse s 6  Cows  z;j>|r>^<^7i^  Bull  >^  >i/<rt^ZWSwine3 


Hay  land  loS c<.       Grain  Field  Corn   ^fa..  Potatoes  l(aA,. 

kVZoXtQ.  ^yt>*^^^  y^ /^a^   Asparagus     IZ  a.. 

Strawberries  ^^  Other   email  fruits  ^ 

Poultry  Hens  Breed 

Apples:      Bearing  trees  zoo-{<5yayttM..^iji^.  iO/i,a.v^Tt,^Ze^i^r^-}^^ 

Young  trees  /<a^-;5A^«^iU^ -^/t.^z.t>,^>t^7ic^-  lL)^<z^^n^ 
Peaches  v^  Pears  u-0'/^aAiUtt-^<C^Ul<^-^ 2\\im3     Cherries 

Market   Garden  Crops: 

to  a..    ^_,t„j~u^  C^yi^r^.        tf- A. .    CciA^i^-jh^       2)  a.    LOyCt.<Xt.  J^^A-^t^ 
3  a..      Ca^,.<U<AI-yo.^^o-tAj  2.  a.  0  ^£i^ei'<u^  \i 

Greenhouses  1/   Buildings  •^^'^'^^  Silo  ^^  Machinery 


Fig.  289.  —  Card  used  by  .Agricultural  Instructor  Doolittle  in  surveying  and  resurveying 
farms.     He  has  no  farms  in  and  about  Concord  listed  in  this  manner.     Size  4"  X  6". 

7.  Arranged  for  prices  on  fertilizers  with  the  local  dealers,  and  also  arranged 
for  them  to  handle  the  same  directly  for  the  war  gardeners  in  town,  instead 
of  having  it  handled  directly  by  the  Committee  as  it  was  last  year. 

8.  Circular  distributed  on  the  use  of  the  water  glass,  and  advising  people  to 
buy  eggs  and  put  them  down  in  the  same. 

9.  A  list  of  reliable  varieties  of  vegetables  distributed  to  the  people  in  town. 

10.  A  ton  of  arsenate  of  lead  purchased  to  be  sold  to  the  farmers. 

11.  Bordeau.x  mi.xture  purchased  to  be  sold  to  war  gardeners. 

12.  1500  bulletins  on  gardening  distributed. 

13.  1500  circulars  on  food  conservation  distributed. 

14.  1000  circulars  on  the  value  of  milk  distributed. 


39°  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

15.  1000  circulars  on  growing  seeds  distributed. 

16.  Farm  survey  conducted  of  all  the  farms  in  town,  and  showed  a  decrease 
of  150  acres  over  last  year's  planting,  also  that  75  boys  were  wanted  in  the  camp. 

17.  Circular  letters  with  bulletin  sent  to  farmers  urging  the  growing  of  vege- 
table seeds. 

18.  500  pounds  of  arsenate  of  lead  purchased  to  be  sold  to  war  gardeners." 

And,  as  a  fourth  example,  the  following  report  may  be  of  interest 
as  showing  how  even  a  young  instructor  at  the  beginning  of  only 


DAY  CLASS  APPLICATION  AND  AGREEMENT  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL 

-19  _, .Mass. 


(Date  of  Application)  (Location  of  School  of  Dcpt.) 

Pupil 

1. - I    »ge on — ; - 

a  resident  of „...^ ^.„ ,  Mass.,  hereby  apply  to  take  the  vocational  agricultural 

course  at  the .-. School,   beginning , 

(Month  and  Day) 
and  I  agree  to  do  my  best  to  master  and   to  carry  out  the  teachings  of  this  course,  including  both   "project 
study"  and  "project  work" 

Signature .....,_ _ „ - — ..-. 

Parent  or  Guardian 

I,  the of  the  above-named  pupil,  approve  his  application 

'Parent,  Guardian) 

and  promise  my  support  and  co-operation.  I  will  see  to  it  that  he  shall  have  (i)  the  time  and  land,  equipment 
and  supplies,  required  properly  to  carry  out  his  home  **  project  work  ",  or  (2)  the  time  required  /or  '*  substitutes  " 
ior  home  project  work  approved  by  his  agricultural  instructor  or  instruaors. 

Signature „ ; _ : ..... 

NofC  — Inatnictor   will   enter   the   pupU'a   nnme  on  the  "tab"  and  file  back  of  thia  "tab  card"  memo,  blanki  (sec) 
Board  of  Education  Bulletin  No.  72.  pp.  58.59}  coTering  all  visits  for  initniction  and  superviaion- 

MMSACHUSrrrt  lOUO  of  education  (over)  AtRICUlTVHAL  CMICATIOII  SERVICE 


Fig.  290.  —  Front  of  day  class  application  and  agreement  blank  used  as  an  enrollment 
card,  arid  also  as  a  tab-card  for  filing  the  instruction  and  supervision  memorandum 
blanks  like  that  shown  in  Fig.  303.     Color,  blue.     Size  4"  X  6". 

the  second  season  of  service  may  promptly  grasp  the  ideals  of 
cooperative  effort,  and  help  to  bring  all  of  the  educational  factors 
which,  in  a  given  locality,  ought  to  be  at  work,  into  good  work- 
ing relations.  Withal  there  are  in  it  a  commendable  local  pride  and 
an  enthusiastic  spirit.  This  is  a  report  of  a  vocational  agricultural 
instructor  whose  work  last  year  was  primarily  with  adults  and 
wholly  itinerant. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS  39I 

This  report  is  from  a  town  in  Essex  County,  was  made  in  May,  19 18, 
and  reads  as  follows : 

"  I  have  been  thinking  for  the  last  few  days  that  it  would  be  well  for  me  to 
give  you  a  summary  of  our  food  production  work  here  in  Saugus,  in  order  that 
you  may  know  where  I  have  been  expending  my  time  and  efifort. 

The  food  production  committee  here  is  an  excellent  one.  I  have  met  them 
at  every  meeting,  and  jointly  we  have  accomplished  the  following  for  farmers 
and  adult  home  gardeners.     Although  we  have  had  no  appropriated  funds, 


J  V 


HOME   PROJECT   OR   OTHER   FACILITIES   FOR   FARM    PRACTICE 
rrtUmliMry  Survfy  ud  Subwqutirt  Rtecrd  mad*  by  tlM  Voeatleiial  Agricultural  Instruetw 

Homt  Farm :    Location „ - Mil"  w  «hool 


Travel  to  schooL^.-.. .-. <. „„.-....,..t.— .Time  required Principal  market - 

(Metiu  of  onveyuia)  (Toal)  (For  ule  of  praducti) 

Land  cultivated Other  tiliable  land - Entire  farm - 

(No.  of  sot*)  (No.  of  acres)  ^Total  do.  of  ftcrcs  tncludios  woodlot) 

Apple  tre«»...._ _ -^Peach  tree*., - Pear  trees - 

(No.  and  vaiictias)  (No.  and  varuria)  (No.  and  Undi) 

Other  (ruits..-.. ...;—; ^ - -..■ Woodlot - - 

(Aon  and  vahatio  of  cacb)  (Aoa  and  kinda  of  tltct) 

Cows: ., :..=_..; Breed _ Quality :. 

(Number) 

Hogs  : ,-i .„.__..Breed Quality 

(Numlxc) 
Sheep  : BreeA.._.„ Quality — 

(Number) 

Poultry: „ Breed Quality Bees......     ......^.. ^ .■■^■■■■~ - 

INumber)  (No.  hivea)  IKind) 

Horses:  Working         _ Driving - Auto Truck. — Tractor , 

(Number)  (Number)  (Make  and  capadty)        (Make  and  capadcy)  (Main  and  h.  p.) 

Remarks  on  equipment _». --. — - - - — 

Valuations:   House Bam Other _ Total 

Ottiw  Facilities  lor  Farm  Practice...-. — — -■•-■ — - — 


Note— The  agrieullaral  director  or  Instructor  will  enter  the  above  Inlormatlon  and  see  the  way 
clear  lo  adequate  home  prolect  or  other  farm  practice,  belore  admitling  applicant  to  his 
school  or  department.  (Oven 


Fig.  2gi.  —  Back  of  day  class  enrollment  card  shown  in  Fig.  290.     Note  memorandum 
for  data  on  home  farm  or  other  facilities  for  farm  practice. 

much  has  been  accomplished  by  a  "  cash  deposit  in  advance  method,"  the  town 
treasurer  handling  all  the  money. 

We  have  purchased  and  delivered  600  bushels  seed  potatoes,  20  tons  4-10-0 
fertilizer,  33  tons  ground  limestone,  10  tons  wheat  middlings,  and  we  are  in  the 
process  of  handling  2000  pounds  nitrate  of  soda  and  160  pigs. 

There  has  been  an  immense  amount  of  detail  work  connected  with  this 
getting  of  agricultural  supplies  and  it  has  occupied  a  large  part  of  my  time. 
About  half  the  pigs  have  been  delivered.     The  nitrate  has  not  yet  arrived. 

Realizing  that  the  greater  part  of  my  time  must  be  given  to  adults,  I  have 
devised  the  following  plan  for  taking  care  of  school  pupils'  gardens. 


392 


VOCATION.\L   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


Name  of  Pupil 


Chester  E.  Cole   .  . 

Ernest  B.  Coulson 

Albert  B.  Cutler  .  . 

Andrew  C.  Fitch  .  . 

Robert  McRell     .     . 
Douglas  J.  Hayes 

Nelson  E.  Taylor 
CliSord  H.  Wheeler 
Norman  Hall  . 


Resdjence 

Miles 

TO 

School 

Berlin     .     . 

5 

Berlin     .     . 

5 

Boylston     . 

5 

Sterling 

2h 

Lancaster  . 

3 
4 

Lancaster  . 

ij 

Berlin     .     . 

5 

Berlin     .     . 

sh 

Pratt's  Jet., 
Sterling 

a\ 

HoBfE  Farm 


Land 


5         loi  acres  (20  wood) 


acres  (all  tillage) 


6S  acres  (all  tillage) 


^oo  acres 


acre 


90  acres  in  Prince- 
ton; 5  acre  in 
Lancaster 

2  J  acres      .     .     .     . 


25   acres   (16  tillage, 
g  wood) 

400  acres  (50  wood) 


Buildings 


House  §2,800 

Barn  1,500 

Miscellaneous   1,000 

House  $3,500 

Barn  1,000 

Miscellaneous       250 

House  $2,000 

Barn  1,000 

Miscellaneous       200 

House  $5,000 

Barns  4,000 

Miscellaneous    1,000 

House  $3,500 

Miscellaneous       300 

House  $2,000 

Miscellaneous       200 


House  $1,500 

Miscellaneous       500 


House 
Barn,  etc. 


$3,000 
1,000 


Houses  $9,000 

Barns  5,000 

Miscellaneous    1,000 


Fig.   292. — Vocational  agricultural 
Applicants   must   show  that   they  have  land  and  equipment  for  home  projects  prior  to 

approved  farms,  are  sometimes 

The  school  committee  have  allowed  me  funds  to  prepare  for  planting  50,000 
feet  of  centrally  located  land. 

Twenty  Junior  High  School  pupils  averaging  14  years  have  elected  to  take 
2*5  acre  of  this  land  each.  In  return  for  what  the  school  committee  have  fur- 
nished them,  these  twenty  agree  to  act  as  inspectors  of  the  junior  gardens  in 
their  respective  localities. 

As  soon  as  I  get  these  inspectors'  gardens  well  under  way,  they  in  turn  will 
supervise  and  inspect  all  junior  school  home  gardens,  relieving  me  of  same. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO   SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS  393 


Lrv£-STOCK 

Fruit  Trees 

Horses 

Cattle 

Poultry 

Hogs 

Remarks  on  Equipment 

2 

9 

150  hens 

I 

200  apple  . 

All  modern  farm  tool= 

— 

S 

40  hens 

— 

12  apple     . 

All  farm  tools 

3 

46 

70  hens 

12 

75  apple     . 

All  farm  tools 

12 

50 

200  hens 

II 

500     apple 
pear 

and 

New  silo.  All  modern  farm 
tools 

— 

— 

100  hens 

20      apple 
pear 

and 

Small  place.  (Has  very 
good  garden) 

— 

— 

100 

IS  apple     . 

Small  home  place.  Father 
works  on  large  farm 

— 

— 

50 

1 

25      apple 
pear 

and 

Small  place.  (Boy  works 
on  neighboring  farm) 

I  horse 
3  steers 

4 

175  hens 
5  ducks 

12 

130     apple 
pear 

and 

All  farm  tools.     (Boy  works 

in  greenhouses  near  by) 

9 

150 

9  guineas 
soo 

— 

100  apple  . 

A  fine  dairy  farm.   Large  silo 

instructor's    preliminarj'     survey.      {Continued  on  pp.  394-395.) 

approval  of  their  admission.     Substitutes  for   home  projects,   such  as  employment  on 
accepted.     See  pages  353  and  398. 


Through  these  inspectors  I  can,  however,  oversee  the  junior  work  with  little 
effort. 

Superintendent  Flood  believes  the  twenty  inspectors  are  the  nucleus  of  a 
permanent  High  School  .Agricultural  Department. 

Pupils  of  the  age  mentioned  seem  to  be  most  responsive.  The  response 
from  older  pupils  is  poor.  Other  lines  of  work  seem  to  them  easier,  better  pay- 
ing, and  more  respectable.  I  hope  to  demonstrate  with  the  twenty  boys  and 
girls   that   no  vocation  can  beat   agriculture  and  swing  them  into  line  for  the 


394 


\OCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


Name  of  Pupil 


Eugene  A.  Popp  . 
John  Schutz    .     . 

Henry  Stedman  . 
Richard  Tucker  . 
Royall  W.  Tyler  . 

Henry  G.  Wendler 

Harold  E.  Wiles  . 

Leslie  Murray 

Mario  C.  Pedroli 
George  F.  Duggan 


RESroENCE 

Miles 

TO 

School 

Bolton 

2 

Bolton 

2 

Clinton 

I 

Sterling 

4 

Sterling 

3h 

Home  Farm 


Land 


Clinton 

Sterling 

Sterling 

Clinton  . 
West  Berlin 


23  acres  (all  tillage) 
117  acres  (25  wood) 

42  acres  (2  wood) 


62   acres   (20  tillage, 
42  wood) 

100  acres  (40  tillage 
60  wood) 


15  acres  (8  wood,  7 
tillage) 


70  acres  (estimated) 


120  acres  (75  tillage, 
45  wood) 


2  acre 


60  acres  (estimated) 


Buildings 


House 
Barns 


$1,000 
300 


House  $3,000 

Barns  1,000 

Miscellaneous       300 

House  $4,000 

Miscellaneous       100 


House ' 
Barn' 

Houses 
Barn 

House 
Barn 


$4,000 
1,500 

$3,000 
2,000 
1,000 

$3-500 
1,000 


Miscellaneous       500 

House  $2,000 

Barn  1,000 

^Miscellaneous       200 

House  $2,500 

Barn  i>Soo 

Miscellaneous       500 


House 
Barn 


Si, 500 
500 


Fig.  292.     (Continued 

department  before  other  lines  divert  their  attention. 

I  have  a  group  of  adult  gardeners  meeting  each  week.  The  County  School' 
has  furnished  special  lecturers  for  some  of  these  meetings.  Mr.  Gaskill '  has 
been  of  great  assistance  also. 

Early  in  the  season  three  large  public  meetings  in  the  interest  of  food  pro- 
duction were  held.     The  production  committee  furnished  the  hall  and  I  sup- 

•  All  new. 

'  Essex  County  Agricultural  SchooL 

'  Agricultural  County  .^gent  of  the  Essex  County  School. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS   AND   DIRECTORS         395 


Live 

-STOCK 

Fruit  Trees 

Horses 

Cattle 

Poultry 

Hogs 

Remarks  on  Equipment 

I 

6 

60 

2 

50  apple     .     .     . 

A  small  market-garden  place 

3 

8 

350 

20 

50  apple     .     .     . 

These  people  have  recently 
taken  this  farm. 

— 

— 

42 

— 

25       pear       and 
apple 

A  large  farm,  but  not 
worked  at  present. 

I 

— 

40 

— 

ISO  apple  .     .     . 

Starting  a  fruit  farm.  (A 
good  location) 

2 

2 

70 

I 

1,000  apple     .     . 

Fruit  farm.  (Very  good 
location) 

I 

2 

125 

2 

75  apple     .     .     . 

A  very  good  market-garden 
place 

4 

10 

100 

2 

40  apple    .     .     . 

A  large  hillside  farm 

4 

35 

13s 

2 

250     peach,      50 
apple,  25  mis- 
cellaneous .     . 

A  large  dairy  farm 

2 

— 

30 

2 

6  apple  and  pear 

Small  town  place 

— 

— 

— 

50  apple     .     .     . 

Farm  owned  by  Clinton 
milk  man 

from  pp.  392-3Q3) 


plied  the  speakers,  including  farm  bureau  and  agricultural  college  specialists. 

Now  that  the  work  of  creating  enthusiasm  in  food  production  and  the 
securing  of  supplies  is  easing  up,  I  shall  give  mv  attention  to  itinerant  work 
with  home  gardeners  and  farmers,  will  get  my  file  '  in  good  shape  and  consolir 
date  my  efforts  to  a  definite  number. 

Our  business  relations  with  Mr.  S.  N.  Stimson,  the  Farmer's  Cooperative 
-Association  ^  manager,  have  been  very  pleasant. 

>  File  of  project  instruction  and  supervision  memo's. 

*  Essex  County  Cooperative  Farming  Association,  doing  a  business  of  over  $10,000  a 
month. 


396 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


If  you  plan  a  tour '  such  as  we  had  last  year,  I  hope  you  can  visit  Saugus. 
We  have  adult  gardening  projects  of  interest,  the  junior  inspectors'  plot  I  have 
mentioned,  a  three  and  one-half  acre  greenhouse  and  twenty-five-acre  field 
plant  managed  by  William  Sim,  champion  violet  grower  of  the  world ;  and  we 


Xk 


j3 

■HHHr 


Where  cranberries  thrive.     Propagation  and  fruiting. 


Three  essentials:  Plenty  of  water  under  quick  control,  bog,  and  sand. 
Fig.  293.  —  There  is  now  and  then  a  home  project  in  cranberry  growing.  The  Massa- 
chusetts cranberry  crop  from  scattered  bogs  in  the  area  above  shown  sells  for  more 
than  a  million  dollars  a  year.  The  above  photographs  were  published  by  the  United 
Cape  Cod  Cranberry  Company,  whose  bulletins  are  valuable  aids  to  the  study  of  cran- 
berry growing,  harvesting,  storing,  and  marketing.  Each  boy's  needs  should  be  studied 
and  the  work  he  needs  most  should  be  outlined  for  him,  even  though  the  conditions  be 
must  meet  may  be  radically  different  from  those  of  other  members  of  his  class. 
Responsibility  for  teaching  projects  in  such  specialized  fields  should  not  be  shirked. 


have  one  of  the  best  five-acre,  seven-year-old  apple  orchards  in  the  county 
owned  by  Walter  Penney. 

The  feeling  here  is  growing  in  favor  of  agricultural  undertakings  and  we 
would  certainly  feel  honored  by  a  visit. 
I  am 

Yours  very  truly, 

Ellery  E-  Metcalf." 

•  This  is  a  reference  to  the  "Conference  on  Wheels"  above  described. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  SUPERVISORS  AND   DIRECTORS         397 

This  instructor  is  a  young  farmer  who  lives  in  the  town  he  is  serving. 
During  the  crop-growing  season  of  191 7  he  was  on  salary.  But  when 
his  salary  stopped,  there  was  no  interruption  of  service.  This  will  be 
evidenced  by  the  following  report  on  his  unpaid  work  during  the 
winter. 


"At  the  close  of  my  salaried  work  in  November,  191 7,  I  sent  names  and 
addresses  of  seventy  liome  gardeners  and  farmers  to  L.  Wayne  Arny,  Super- 
visor of  Correspondence  Courses,  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College. 

These  seventy  were  persons  who  had  evidenced  the  greatest  interest  in  my 
itinerant  visits  and  seemed  capable  of  more  intensive  study.  Mr.  .\rny  sent 
them  each  a  list  of  courses,  came  to  Saugus  himself,  and  together  we  organized 
a  group-study  class  with  the  privilege  of  using  a  room  in  the  high  school  each 
Thursday  evening. 

Twenty  took  the  course  in  "Vegetable  Gardening";  ten,  "Soils  and  Soil 
Improvement  ";    and  seven,  "  Manures  and  Fertilizers." 

I  was  elected  group  leader,  and  I  appointed  a  secretary  for  each  of  the  three 
courses  who  received  the  lessons  and  gave  them  to  me  to  forward  to  M.  A.  C. 
I  took  the  "Market  Gardening"  course  and  conducted  a  discussion  on  each 
lesson  in  that  course,  and  also  assisted  the  secretaries  of  the  other  two  courses 
in  discussions  for  their  groups.  We  had  M.  A.  C.  lecturers  address  the  group. 
When  the  coal  shortage  came  we  met  at  members'  houses.  Finally  we  secured 
the  use  of  the  court  room  in  town  hall. 

In  Februarj'  we  invited  Mr.  Gaskill,  County  Agent,  to  speak  to  us  on  collec- 
tive buying  —  he  gave  us  prices  on  car  lots.  This  was  too  big  a  proposition  for 
the  class  to  handle  so  I  met  the  selectmen,  asking  that  a  production  committee 
be  appointed  and  all  townspeople  invited  to  buy  collectively  with  the  class. 
The  selectmen  published  Mr.  Gaskill's  prices  and  appointed  a  town  production 
committee  of  three  from  the  study  class  to  take  charge  in  conjunction  with  me 
of  getting  the  supplies.  As  a  town  committee  they  called  upon  the  town  treas- 
urer to  handle  all  money.  There  were  no  appropriated  funds  to  use,  so  every- 
thing was  cash  deposited  in  advance,  applicant  receiving  a  town  receipt  with 
stub  attached,  stub  to  be  presented  to  deliverer  of  supplies.  I  attended  to 
checking  up  the  supplies  as  they  came  in  and  to  directing  delivery  of  same, 
following  up  complaints,  etc.  Through  the  County  .\gent  we  did  our  business 
with  Mr.  S.  N.  Stimson,  Manager  of  the  Essex  County  Cooperative  Farming 
Association.  I  personally  am  taking  charge  of  getting  2000  pounds  of  the  govern- 
ment nitrate.  Supplies  to  the  amount  I  stated  in  my  other  letter  were  handled, 
and  the  meetings  I  mentioned  conducted  shortly  after  the  production  com- 
mittee was  appointed. 

The  production  campaign  was,  you  see,  well  under  way  at  the  time  I  again 
took  up  my  salaried  duties. 


398  VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 

I  continually  kept  the  local  school  authorities  acquainted  with  all  my  plans 
and  made  them  the' controlling  influence. 

Mr.  C.  L.  Smith,  chairman  of  the  production  committee,  is  principal  of  our 
high  school ;  he  has  allowed  the  commercial  department  to  be  of  great  assistance 
to  me  and  to  the  committee.  The  pupils  volunteered  their  assistance.  We 
have  laid  great  stress  on  the  importance  of  patriotic  cooperation  of  town  offi- 
cials and  townspeople.  .  .  ." 

If  there  must  be  a  fight,  in  short,  let  it  be  a  fight,  not  for  leadership, 
but  for  service.  First,  where  there  is  day  class  instruction,  there  must 
be  work  with  growing  boys.  Since  this  work,  as  a  rule,  includes 
work  at  their  homes,  the  service  of  the  vocational  agricultural  school 
naturally  overflows  into  and  through  the  community.  Let  us, 
therefore,  say  to  our  agricultural  instructors :  Forget  leadership. 
Forget  uplift.  Be  yourself  a  good  follower  of  the  best  that  has  been 
thought  and  said  and  done  in  the  agricultural  world.  Then,  let  your 
labors  be  like  a  spring,  labors  welling  up  through  your  grovidng  boys, 
and  others  whom  you  teach,  and  steadily  overflowing,  not  to  flood  nor 
to  efface,  but  through  pleasantly  plotted  channels  like  fresh  waters  in 
a  thirsty  land. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

SUGGESTIONS    TO    VOCATIONAL    AGRICULTURAL 
INSTRUCTORS 

The  author  hopes  that  any  vocational  agricultural  instructor  who 
may  be  inclined  to  consider  the  suggestions  in  this  chapter  will 
first  run  over  the  suggestions  offered  supervisors,  directors,  and 
superintendents  in  the  previous  chapter.  The  present  chapter,  more- 
over, presupposes  familiarity  with  details  of  the  entire  discussion  in 
the  foregoing  pages. 

1.  Make  Educational  Surveys 

As  soon  as  may  be,  acquaint  yourself  with  all  of  the  educational 
agencies  in  your  state,  your  county,  and  your  locality  with  whom  you 
ought  to  work  or  by  whom  you  may  rightly  hope  to  be  helped.  For 
efforts  in  this  direction  you  may  justly  claim  "  professional  improve- 
ment" credit.  By  this  means  you  may  prevent  needless  or  unpleasant 
duplication  of  effort,  and  open  up  avenues  for  the  constant  enrich- 
ment of  your  service. 

2.  Make  Surveys  of  Farming 

Prior  to  admitting  pupils  to  your  classes,  make  preliminary  surveys 
of  the  farms  on  which  they  live  and  expect  to  work.  Use  some  such 
guide  as  that  shown  above  in  Fig.  291.  Extend  your  preliminary 
survey  to  farms  where  there  is  a  shortage  of  labor,  where  good  methods 
are  followed  and  where  you  may  hope  to  secure  employment  for  the 
occasional  boys  who  are  not  from  farm  homes  or  who  cannot  live  at 
home  during  their  agricultural  courses.  Extend  further  your  study 
of  farms  until  you  have  in  your  card  index  a  complete  file  of  data  on 
the  farming  resources  and  activities  of  your  locality.  A  suggestive 
guide  to  such  a  complete  survey  may  be  found  in  tlic  i-xample  of 
a  survey  card  shown  in    Fig.  289.     Surveys  which    naturally  lead 

399 


400  VOCATION.\L  AGRICULTUR.\L   EDUCATION 

to  re-surveying  may  be  "farm  management  "  surveys  in  which  help 
may  be  had  from,  and  given  to,  the  farm  management  expert  of  the 
State  College  of  Agriculture.     Individual  instructors  in  Massachusetts 


EVENING  CLASS  ENROLLMENT  BLANK  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL 

19  . „ Mass. 

(Date  of  applicarion)  'Location  of  School  or  Dept.) 

I  wish  to  receive  special  instruction  and  supervision  from  the  local  agricultural  instructor  in  connection 
with  my  agricultural  operations  this  season.  In  return  for  this  help,  I  will  endeavor  to  follow  directions  and 
keep  accurate  accounts  of  cost  and  income. 

Only  persons  over  sixteen  years  ot  age  may  sign  below 

Signed  by - __ —  Age     _ 

Street  and  number .Town  or  city : , State 

Occupatioa — _ -  - - Head  of  family 

(Agricultural)     (Non-agricultural)     (Unemp!oyfd)  (Yes  or  no) 

Size  of  garden?.. Number  of  hens? Number  of  pigs? 

Number  of  cows? Number  of  fruit  trees?., Area  in  small  fruit? 

Other    facilities, *„....™.-, ., ■- 


When  can  tbe  instructor  see  yon  at  your  agricultural  wnrk?  

*l»SS«CHUStTT8   BCtRD   OF   EDUCATION  lOvcrl  SGRICULTURftL  tOUC»TIOH   SERVICt 


Fig.  294.  —  Front  of  blank  used  for  enrollment  of  those  not  able  to  attend  day  classes. 
Instruction  may  be  given,  and  generally  is  given,  before  dark ;  and  on  the  itinerant, 
individual,  or  family  group,  home  to  home  plan.  Note  data  on  facilities  for  farming, 
gardening,  etc.  Note,  also,  that  the  appUcation  is  supported  by  an  agreement.  Color, 
buff.     Size  4"  X  6". 

have  made  forty  or  more  such  surveys  as  those  last  named  in  a 
year,  and  followed  them  up  with  subsequent  surveys.  For  this  work 
they  have  been  given  "  professional  improvement  "  credit. 

3.    Require  Preliminary  Project  Agreements 

Of  fundamental  importance  is  it  to  provide  for  farm  work  to  be  done 
throughout  the  period  of  training  of  each  pupil. 

There  is  considerable  speculation  as  to  why  farm  boys  leave  home, 
sometimes  to  work  on  other  farms,  but,  also,  perhaps  more  often,  to 
work  in  cities.     The  author  has  heard  more  than  one  successful  farmer 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  AGRICULTURAL  INSTRUCTORS 


401 


say  that  he  stuck  to  farming  in  spite  of  his  father  and  not  because  of 
his  father's   encouragement.     An   anonymous   writer   has  put   into 


FINAL  SUMMARY  OF  ACCOUNTING  OF  EVENING  CLASS  PROJECT  OR  PROJECTS 


Actual  — Esllmsfed 

(Erase  cnel 

RECEIPTS 

EXPENSES 

Value  of  producTs  sold  for  cash 

Labor  (hired)      .... 

or  exchanged 

Seed           .         •         .         .         . 
Fertilizer     ..... 

Estimated    value    of    vegetables 
used  or  scored     . 

] 

Spraying  Mijcturea 
Rent  (if  rented) 
Other  expenses 

TOTAL 

TOTAL 

Number  of  hours  (approximately)  spent  on  this  project? 

Notes  — Instructor  will  see  that  citnple  records  are   kept    from    which  Iba  ftboTC  tummmry  at  the  end  of  the  lealOB 

eao  be  entered  by  him. 

Instructor  will  enter    the  pupil's   name    on    the  "tab"  and  Ttle  back  of  this  "tab  card"  memo,  blanks  (sec 
Board  of  Education  Bulletin  No.  72.  pp.  S8.S9>  covering  all  visits  for  Instruction  and  superrision. 

(Over) 


Fig.  295.  —  Back  of  enrollment  blank  used  for  those  not  in  day  classes.  Many  employed 
in  non-agricultural  pursuits  use  their  out-of-work  hours  for  home-gardening  and  poultry 
keeping.  But  even  such  persons  are  expected  to  study  expenses  and  returns  as  suggested 
above.     This  is  used  as  a  tab-card  for  the  instruction  and  supervision  memoranda. 

rime,  of  which  the  following  lines  are  part,  the  answer  of  a  boy  in  a 
city  as  to  why  he  left  the  oM  homestead : 

"  I  left  my  dad,  his  farm,  his  plow, 
Because  my  calf  became  his  cow ; 
I  left  my  dad  —  'twas  wrong,  of  course  — 
Because  my  colt  became  his  horse. 
I  left  my  dad  to  sow  and  reap 
Because  my  lamb  became  his  sheep. 
I  dropped  my  hoe  and  stuck  my  fork, 
Because  my  pig  became  his  pork. 
The  garden  truck  that  I  made  grow, 
'Twas  his  to  sell,  but  mine  to  hoe. 
It's  not  the  smoke  in  the  atmosphere, 
Nor  the  taste  for  life  that  brought  me  here; 


2D 


402  VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 

Please  tell  the  platform,  pulpit,  press, 

No  fear  of  toil  or  love  of  dress 

Is  driving  off  the  farmer  lads. 

But  just  the  method  of  their  dads." 

It  cannot  be  doubted  that  property  rights,  on  at  least  a  modest 
scale,  are  immense  aids  to  interest  and  earnest  endeavor  in  home-proj- 
ect work.  Most  boys  will  give  most  of  their  time  to  farm  work  for 
their  fathers,  and  do  it  ungrudgingly,  if  only  they  can  now  and  then 
feel  that  they  can  earn  something  which  shall  be  peculiarly  their  own. 
Home  projects  propose  property  rights  for  the  pupil.  The  home  gar- 
den may  be  rented  or  owned  the  first  year ;  a  pen  of  poultry,  a  pen  of 
pigs,  and  one  hive  or  more  of  bees,  with  a  limited  amount  of  land  for 
cropping,  the  second ;  part  of  the  orchard  and  land  for  a  cash  crop, 
the  third ;  and  one  or  more  cows,  with  land  for  one  or  more  crops,  the 
fourth. 

Responsibility  proportionate  to  such  property  rights  should,  of 
course,  be  assumed  by  the  pupil  and  be  shared  by  his  instructor. 

Though  school  control  may  sometimes  be  slightly  modified  by  home 
control,  all  misunderstanding  may  be  avoided  and  preparation  for 
good  results  may  be  made  by  a  joint  agreement  in  advance  for  each 
year  in  succession,  in  which  interests  are  harmonized  and  responsi- 
bilities fixed.  A  form  of  agreement  which  may  be  suggestive  is  shown 
above  in  Fig.  290. 

The  author  feels  that  he  cannot  too  strongly  urge  you  to  admit  no 
pupil  to  your  class  until  you  have  visited  his  home,  interviewed  both 
him  and  his  parents  or  guardian,  or  his  employer,  and  brought  about 
arrangements  by  which,  from  the  outset,  he  shall  do  farm  work  at  his 
home  or  elsewhere,  coincident  with  his  study,  and  shall  do  it  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  methods  which  you  teach  or  which  you  are  willing 
to  approve  for  a  Hmited  trial. 

(i)  Suit  project  agreements  to  conditions.  —  The  success  of  an 
agricultural  course  in  which  the  home-project  plan  is  followed  will 
depend  upon  the  tact  and  common  sense  of  the  instructor,  and  his 
ability  to  draw  up  preliminary  agreements  which  shall  hold,  not  so 
much  by  virtue  of  their  formality,  legality,  or  moral  obligations,  as 
through  the  thorough  understanding  of  requirements  and  contem- 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  AGRICULTURAL  INSTRUCTORS 


403 


THEORY 


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4o6  VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTUR.\L   EDUCATION 

plated  benefits  which  he  is  able  to  give  both  parents  and  pupils.  The 
instructor  should  suit  the  size  of  the  project,  primarily,  to  the  capacity 
of  the  pupil ;   and  then  require  good  work. 

A.  Projects  should  not  be  too  small.  —  Pupils  vary  in  strength 
and  other  capabilities,  not  merely  from  year  to  year  as  they  grow 
up,  but  in  any  given  year  as  one  is  compared  with  another.  The  size 
of  the  projects  should  be  scaled  to  bring  out  the  utmost  endeavor 
and  development  of  the  individual  pupil. 

Speed  up  the  boy's  work  by  making  his  project  big  enough  to  re- 
quire attack  and  dispatch  for  its  competent  execution.  Make  it  so  big 
as  to  avoid  all  tendency  toward  habits  of  dawdling  and  pottering.  Let 
it  be  big  enough  to  arouse  his  enthusiasm  by  making  the  profit  he  may 
reasonably  expect  to  get  appeal  to  him  as  being  a  real  prize.  Make  the 
project  big  enough  so  that  a  competing  job  shall  not  get  the  boy  away 
from  school.  In  short,  let  each  boy's  project  be  such  that  it  shall  serve, 
not  an  a  vocational,  but  a  vocational  end  of  commanding  importance. 

Improvement  and  trial  projects  must  of  necessity  be  conducted  on 
a  relatively  small  scale,  —  the  first,  generally,  from  lack  of  capital, 
the  second  because  of  the  factors  of  uncertainty.  Improvement 
projects,  however  small,  should  appear  somewhere  in  the  pupil's  work 
every  year.  Productive  projects  should  be  as  large  as  possible  for 
the  reasons  stated  in  the  following  paragraphs. 

a.  The  big  project  is  a  better  test  of  a  given  method  than  the  small 
one  because  it  covers  more  ground.  A  walk  through  a  hayfield  shows 
the  stand  to  be  uneven ;  so,  also,  fields  of  other  crops.  A  better  idea 
as  to  average  production  per  acre  can  be  had  on  the  larger  area  than 
on  the  smaller. 

b.  The  big  project  yields  the  larger  return,  —  a  return  such  as  a 
man  could  afford  to  work  for.  That  is  to  say,  a  little  project  tends  to 
be  a  side  line  of  effort,  while  the  big  project  tends  to  be  the  main 
effort.  The  small  project  tends  to  be  the  small  source  of  revenue; 
the  big  project,  the  principal  source  of  revenue  of  the  pupil.  The 
small  project  may  mean  division  of  interest  and  effort,  as  between 
agricultural  and  some  form  of  non-agricultural  employment;  the 
big  project  is  likely  to  mean  concentration  of  effort,  time,  and  atten- 
tion upon  a  distinctively  agricultural  undertaking. 


SUGGESTIONS   TO   AGRICULTURAL   INSTRUCTORS  407. 

c.  The  big  project  bulks  larger  on  the  home  farm  than  does  the 
small  one.  It  means  that  the  cooperation  of  the  father,  or  the  em- 
ployer, has  been  cordially  enlisted.  It  means  a  better  test,  under 
good  conditions  of  tillage,  of  the  home  farm,  or  other  farm  on  which 
the  project  is  conducted. 

d.  The  big  project  bulks  larger  in  the  community  than  does  the 
little  one.  Every  project  ought  to  be  an  illustration  of  better  methods 
than  those  usually  followed  in  a  farming  community.  A  big  project 
embodying  better  methods  ought  to  be  a  more  potent  factor  for  the 
betterment  of  farming  than  a  little  one. 

e.  The  bigger  the  project  the  better.  —  Experience  with  super- 
vised home-farm  work  since  its  beginnings  in  1 908-1 909  in  Massa- 
chusetts, where  projects  have  been  conducted  on  a  gradually  increas- 
ing scale,  has  conclusively  shown  that  the  bigger  the  productive  proj- 
ect the  better,  provided  always,  of  course,  the  pupil  does  not  undertake 
more  than  he  can  carry  out  in  a  thoroughly  workmanlike  and  business- 
like way,  and  provided  he  carries  it  out  with  due  regard  to  the  three 
main  farming  factors,  —  production,  marketing,  and  accounting. 

(2)  Project  work  should  be  done  in  project  clothes.  —  Require  that 
all  project  work  shall  be  done  in  working  clothes.  Provide  lockers 
for  the  ordinary  school  clothes  and  shoes  and  require  a  change  of 
dress  when  project  work  is  to  be  done  on  the  school  premises.  Pro- 
vide, also,  conveniences  for  cleaning  up  after  the  work  is  done. 

This  should  be  looked  upon  as  a  perfectly  reasonable  rule,  the  non- 
enforcement  of  which  would  be  absurd  and  must  make  the  project 
work  appear  ridiculous. 

Assignment  of  half-day  blocks  of  time  to  each  project  group,  in 
making  up  the  school  program,  will  be  of  marked  assistance  in  enforce- 
ment of  this  requirement.  This  should  be  impressed  upon  those  in 
charge  of  making  the  school  program. 

Parents,  also,  should  understand  this  requirement  and  agree  to  it. 

(3)  Untoward  conditions  should  be  accepted  as  a  challenge.  — 
Residence  at  home  should  vastly  multiply  the  benefits  of  vocational 
agricultural  instruction.  Bed-rock  realities  must  be  dealt  with.  Pro- 
vision for  the  orderly,  but  immediate,  trying  out  of  ideas  and  methods, 
feasible  for  the  locality,  but  new  to  the  particular  farm,  should  be  made. 


4o8 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


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SUGGESTIONS  TO  AGRICULTURAL  INSTRUCTORS  409 

If  funds  are  short,  banks  or  citizens,  before  reluctant  to  extend 
credit,  may  be  induced  by  the  instructor  to  back  any  project  which 
promises  reasonable  returns  and  which  is  to  be  conducted  upon  terms 
as  to  instruction  and  supervision  agreed  upon  in  advance.  Notable 
instances  of  such  extensions  of  credit  which  have  turned  out  favorably 
to  all  concerned  have  come  under  the  observation  of  the  author. 
Habits  of  postponement  are  thus  avoided.  Conditions  as  they  are 
found,  beginnings  as  they  must  be  made,  first  steps  ahead  which  are 
possible,  each  farm  considered  by  itself,  should  be  accepted  by  both 
pupil  and  instructor  as  a  challenge  to  action,  well-studied,  but  in- 
stant and  unafraid. 

(4)  Ample  school  credit  for  project  work  should  be  provided  for 
in  the  preliminary  agreements.  — A  sharp  distinction  should,  of  course, 
be  drawn  between  work  of  the  ordinary  farm  routine  in  which  no 
application  of  the  principles  and  methods  taught  by  the  vocational 
instructor  is  made,  and  the  project  work  of  the  pupil  in  which  those 
principles  and  methods  are  applied.  Generous  school  credit  for  the 
latter  should  be  included  in  the  provisions  of  the  preliminary  agree- 
ments.    No  school  credit  should  be  allowed  for  the  former. 

4.  Require  Preliminary  Agreements  Covering  All  Approved  Substi- 
tutes for  Projects 

Substitutes  for  projects  may  now  and  then  be  best  for  the  training 
of  a  pupil  who  has  no  land  at  home,  or  whose  home  conditions  are  so 
limited  or  untoward  that  no  adequate  arrangements  to  apply  the 
principles  and  methods  of  improved  agriculture  can  there  be  made. 
Preliminary  agreements  providing  for  the  educational  phases  of  the 
farm  work  of  the  pupils  should  be  made  at  the  outset,  and  to  them 
the  employers,  pupils,  and  instructors  should  jointly  become  parties. 
Adequate  arrangements  can  easily  be  made,  if  approved  employ- 
ment is  restricted  to  work  on  farms  where  the  farming  is  of  a  high 
order  of  efficiency  and  exemplifies  the  principles  and  methods  taught 
by  the  vocational  agricultural  instructors.  In  such  cases,  the  training 
■  in  practical  farming  operations  almost  automatically  takes  care  of 
itself.  It  remains  only  to  agree  upon  the  studies  to  be  made  by  the 
pupil  and  the  particular  responsibilities  to  be  assumed  by  him. 


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See  directions  inside  Front  Cover.     Include 

implements  used,  number  of  loads,  etc. 


Field 


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5-30— 
6.00- 


6.30 — Feeding  cows  and  milking.     H.  proj. 

7.00 — 

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8.30 — Mr.  Davis  came 

9 .00 • 


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3.30 — 

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Notes  on 


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Temperature 


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SUGGESTIONS  TO  AGRICULTURAL   INSTRUCTORS  411 

Studies  such  as  a  pupil  employed  by  a  progressive  market  gardener 
or  dairyman  may  undertake  are  shown  above  in  Fig.  146,  and  below 
in  Figs.  222  and  223.     . 

5.    Make  Project  Study  Outlines 

(i)  Ask  questions.  —  Support,  guide,  and  check  the  project  work  of 
your  pupils  by  appropriate  and  directly  pertinent  project  study.  In 
organizing  your  teaching  materials,  whether  found  in  books,  in  labo- 
ratory experiments  or  other  tests,  or  in  things  seen  and  done  outside 
the  classroom,  adopt  the  question  method.  Avoid,  to  the  fullest 
extent,  however,  leading  questions,  questions  which  suggest  an  answer 
"  yes  "  or  "  no."  Ask  questions  which  require  study,  thinking,  and 
perfectly  explicit  written  or  oral  replies.  Ask  questions  to  which  most 
of  the  boys  ought  to  find  answers.  Include  now  and  then  a  question 
for  your  most  capable  pupil.  Begin  with  questions  vital  to  the  suc- 
cess of  the  projects  in  hand,  and  appropriate  to  the  season.  Ex- 
amples of  seasonal  planning  of  instruction  which  you  may  find 
suggestive  are  given  in  Figures  296,  297,  and  298. 

(2)  Cover  the  needs  of  every  boy.  —  By  making  the  outline  of  ques- 
tions full  enough  to  cover  the  project  needs  of  every  boy  in  the  class, 
certain  questions  may  be  marked,  and  others  omitted,  for  individual 
pupils.     A  single  outline  may  thus  serve  the  entire  class. 

Be  sure  that  each  boy's  project-study  record  is  correct  on  all  points 
necessary  to  the  success  of  his  particular  project.  Your  questions 
will  thus  insure  clear  thinking,  accurate  statement,  and  properly 
planned  work. 

(3)  Include  short  units  of  related  study.  —  Do  not  prepare  for  your 
project  study  by  study  of  books  on  ''  Soils,"  "  Breeds,"  "  Feeds," 
"  Fertilizers,"  and  the  like.  Apart  from  your  textbooks  used,  from 
year  to  year,  in  your  "  Agricultural  Survey  "  instruction,  go  straight 
at  the  study  of  the  projects  themselves  and  their  requirements.  Then 
from  time  to  time  loop  in  short  units  of  study  from  your  books,  field 
trips,  and  the  like  on  soils,  fertilizers,  feeds,  breeds,  and  the  rest.  In 
Massachusetts  such  short  units  have  been  assembled,  in  some  cases  a 
hundred  or  more,  in  loose-leaf  form.  More  recently  very  good  models 
of  such  short  units  have  been  published,  one  in  book  form  and  the 


412 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


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Milk,  @  .022  per  lb 

Increase  for  milk  peddled  .     .     . 
"           "       "  sold  at  house 

Rent  for  pasture 

"      stables,  @  10% 
Int.  on  investment  of  $260  .    . 
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SUGGESTIONS   TO   AGRICULTURAL   INSTRUCTORS  413 

other  in  loose-leaf  form.  These  have  been  listed  above  in  the 
bibliography  given  in  Chapter  V,  with  the  entry  numbers  789.8  and 
789.9. 

(4)  Make  outline  overlap  outline.  —  Things  frequently  and  dis- 
tinctly recalled  are  best  remembered.  Study  overlapping  of  refer- 
ence materials,  in  your  outline  making,  as  aids  to  thorough  reviewing 
and  to  facility  in  statement.  Answers  composed  with  much  labor 
and  difficulty  at  first  may  thus  finally  be  made  easily  and  promptly. 
Do  not  overlap  your  outlines  too  often,  nor  too  much. 

(5)  Make  outline  overlap  textbook.  —  Make  your  outlines  not 
only  overlap  one  another,  but  also  overlap  the  approved  textbooks 
used  for  the  "  Agricultural  Survey  "  instruction.  The  pupil's  knowl- 
edge will  thus  become  well  knit.  You  can  hardly  make  your  outlines 
and  your  textbooks  excessively  overlap. 

(6)  Refer  to  illustrated  matter.  —  Remember  that  in  most  cases 
your  boys  are  likely  to  be  active  and  practical  in  their  interests  and 
abilities,  rather  than  "  bookish."  Therefore,  in  your  outline  making 
refer  wherever  possible  to  pages  which  illustrate  the  points  of  the  text 
by  diagrams  and  photographs.  You  may  thus  make  assurance  doubly 
sure  that  the  pupil  will  get  the  fact  or  principle  which  you  send  him 
to  get. 

(7)  Prepare  outlines  ahead.  —  Devote  one-fourth  of  the  day  or 
week  in  summer  to  the  preparation  of  outlines  for  use  during  the  fall 
term.  The  period  free  from  teaching  and  supervision  in  winter  may 
be  extended  to  two  months  in  Massachusetts  for  the  express  purpose 
of  professional  improvement.  Until  outlines  covering  the  needs  of  a 
given  school  or  department  have  been  prepared,  the  instructor  has 
been  counseled  to  use  a  large  part  of  his  professional  improvement 
time  in  making  or  improving  outlines  for  use  during  the  spring  term. 
Thus  the  labor  of  outline  making  during  the  actual  teaching  terms 
may  be  reduced,  and  time  gained  for  field,  laboratory,  and  shop  prep- 
arations. 

The  standard  form  of  outline  used  in  Massachusetts  has  been  shown 
above  in  Chapter  IV,  and  the  project  study  bibliography,  with  uniform 
entry  members  for  the  state,  to  facihtate  outline  making,  has  been 
shown  above  in  Chapter  V. 


414  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

Cow's  Number  5  


Owner  G.  W.  Norcross, 


Address  Brimfield.  Mass. 


Cow's  Name  Jutw 


Weight_ 

Dropped  Last  Calf  March,  igij 
Dairy  Improvement  Association 


lbs. 


Yield  for 
Month 

Yield  to  D 

ATE 

Grain  and 

Roughage  One 

1 

^ 

2 

Date 

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1 
«2 

1913-14 

October 

506 

4.2 

21.25 

506 

21 

.022 

II. 13 

80.6 

620 

300 

86.8 

Si-50 

Nov. 

518  S-o 

25.90 

1024 

47 

.022 

22.53 

537 

62 

174 

16 

84.2 

Dec. 

4IOJ4.8 

19-69 

14-34 

67 

.022 

3155 

744 

62 

159 

8 

93 

Jan. 

399 

4.8 

19-15 

1833 

86 

.022 

40.33 

775 

403 

48 

44 

49 

Feb. 

262 

4.8 

12.58 

2095 

98 

.022 

46.09 

1008 

33.6 

28 

Mar. 

SI 

5-0 

2-55 

2146 

lOI 

.022 

47.21 

837 

37-2 

15-75 

Apr. 

338 

2.8 

9-45 

2484 

III 

.022 

57-63 

540 

12 

IS 

May 

790 

4-65 

36-74 

3274 

147 

.022 

75-OI 

37-2 

II. 2 

1-50 

June 

858 

3-9 

32-76] 

4132 

180 

.022 

93-88 

! 

26.4 

12.8 

2.00 

July 

769 

3-6 

27.6^ 

4901 

208 

.022 

1 10. 8c 

16.8 

60 

21 

1-50 

Aug. 

653  2.8 

18.28 

5554 

226 

.022 

125-17 

108.6 

1. 00 

Sept. 

569 

4-2 

23-9C; 

6123 

250 

.022 

137-70 

295 

los 

•75 

Totals 

6123 

250 

80.6 

5061 

998 

422 

650.6 

24 

329-95 

88.25 

Acknowledgment  - 


•  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture  —  Maine  Department  of  Agriculture. 
Fig.  301.  —  Copy  of  a  pupil's  approved  individual  cow 


(8)  Cooperate  in  outline  making.  —  Considerable  variation  in  the 
excellence  of  outlines  is  to  be  expected.  The  enthusiast  for  poultry 
keeping  may  be  expected  to  produce  the  best  study  outlines  for  proj- 
ect work  in  this  field ;  the  enthusiast  for  dairying,  the  best  outlines 
for  dairying ;  the  enthusiast  for  fruit  growing  or  vegetable  growing, 
the  best  outlines  for  study  in  these  fields ;  and  so  on  through  the  several 
fields  scheduled  for  agricultural  project  training. 

The  Board  of  Education  in  Massachusetts,  from  time  to  time,  has 
printed  or  multigraphed  outlines  prepared  by  individual  instructors. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO   AGRICULTURAL   INSTRUCTORS 
Breed  Hoistein  (Grade)  Registry  Number  Bom 


415 


Dam's  Name  and  Number 
Sire's  Name 


Breed 


Registry  Number 
Breed 


Age 


Register  Number 


Lb.  Di- 

1 

gestible 

Month 

Cost 

Balance 

NUTRI- 
FNTS    IN 

Daily 

Rations 

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2; 

2.80 

5-75 

8.55 

.038 

8.55 

2.58 

1.30 

2.23 

14.51 

1-6.51 

2Q4 

6.14 

4-33 

10.47 

.04s 

19.02 

■93 

1.09 

3-97 

17.93 

1-4 

52 

88 

5-90 

4-79 

10.69 

.059 

29.71 

1.67 

.844 

4-13 

17.36 

1-4 

2C 

2g.6 

3-12 

5.36 

8.48 

.048 

38.19 

.3c 

1.04 

5-23 

16.49 

i-s 

II 

33.6 

1-73 

6.05 

7.78 

.067 

45-97 

2.02 

-74 

3.00 

15.73 

1-5 

25 

i8.g 

1.29 

5.02 

6.31 

.278 

52.28 

5-19 

-177 

2. II 

II. 81 

1-5 

59 

16 

.82 

3-24 

4.06 

.027 

56.34 

3-35 

1. 21 

1-45 

7-77 

i-S 

35 

$4.00  added 

122.5 

3-21 

I-50 

4.71 

.013 

61.05 

12.67 

3-69 

for  I  calf 

90 

2.44 

2.00 

4.44 

.oil 

65.49 

14-45 

4-25 

21 

2.30 

i.SO 

3.80 

.oil 

69.29 

II. 12 

4-45 

Out 

to 

17c 

2.17 

I  30 

3.47 

.012 

72.76 

10.90 

3-14 

Past 

ure. 

2.10 

1.27 

3-37 

.013 

76.13 

9.15 

5.71 

J 

382 

331.6 

17c 

54.02 

42.11 

76.13 

66.45 

8.88 

Form  furnished  by  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College  Extension  Service, 
account.     He  had  such  an  account  for  every  cow  in  the  herd. 

or  combined  outlines  prepared  by  more  than  one  instructor  in  a  given 
field  and  printed  or  multigraphed  them.  Due  credit  for  outlines 
found  of  sufhcient  merit  for  this  purpose  has  been  given  their  authors. 
The  best  outlines,  produced  anywhere  in  the  service  have  thus  been 
made  available  for  the  improvement  of  the  service  everywhere.  Where 
such  a  plan  is  followed,  the  hearty  cooperation  in  outline  making  of 
all  participants  in  this  new  type  of  teaching  will  be  for  the  individual 
benefit  of  every  man  engaged  in  it.  Without  any  misgivings  as  to 
the  willingness  of  any  instructor  to  do  his  part,  such  cooperative 


41 6  VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

effort,  therefore,  has  been  most  strongly  urged  and  the  results  have 
been  highly  appreciated.  The  results  have  come  from  carefully  con- 
certed division  of  labor. 

(9)  Mark  outlines  for  each  pupil.  —  Give  each  pupil  a  copy  of  the 
outline  and  have  him  put  his  name  on  the  cover.  Mark  conspic- 
uously, as  with  a  red  pencil,  those  questions  and  references  mastery 
of  which  you  believe  to  be  essential  to  the  success  of  the  pupil's  project. 
Direct  him  to  omit  all  else,  or  to  regard  all  else  as  "  optional  study." 
Do  not  consider  an  outline  made,  until  it  has  been  adapted  exactly 
to  the  needs  of  each  pupil. 

(10)  Disregard  the  printed  sequence  of  questions  and  refer- 
ences. Start  each  pupil's  study  at  the  point  at  which  an  out- 
line bears  directly  upon  his  productive  operations.  If  he  is  studying 
poultry  raising  and  must  first  build  a  house,  start  his  study  at 
poultry  house  planning  and  construction.  If  he  must  first  cull  his 
flock  and  fatten  the  surplus  birds,  start  his  study  accordingly. 
Move  him  from  point  to  point  in  the  outline  as  the  seasons  and 
his  poultry  operations  change.  Do  not  consider  an  outline  made, 
until  it  has  been  adapted  to  the  seasonal  sequence  of  the  project 
work  of  each  pupil. 

(i i)  Improve  your  outlines.  —  Keep  "desk  copies  "  of  your  outlines ; 
and  improve  each  to  the  utmost,  from  time  to  time,  by  interlining  new 
questions  and  references,  and  by  striking  out  old  questions  and  refer- 
ences not  suited  to  the  needs  of  your  present  or  prospective  pupils. 

(12)  Carefully  select  reference  materials.  —  Examine  books,  bul- 
letins, circulars,  and  reports  before  placing  them  permanently  among 
your  reference  materials.  Select  only  those  which  will  be  of  immediate 
benefit  to  your  pupils,  taking  into  account  their  powers  of  assimilation 
and  the  requirements  of  their  projects. 

(13)  Keep  the  school  reference  file  intact.  — Respect  the  property 
rights  of  your  school  or  department.  Do  not  regard  as  your  personal 
property  reference  materials  sent  you,  whether  books,  bulletins,  cir- 
culars, or  reports ;  but  leave  them  in  the  project  study  file  of  the  school 
or  department,  properly  numbered  or  indexed  for  ready  and  permanent 
use.  If  you  desire  them,  you  can  generally  secure  duplicates  for  your 
personal  file. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO   AGRICULTURAL  INSTRUCTORS  417 

6.    Make  Outlined  Study  Lead  to  Unoutlined 

Of  course,  a  major  aim  must  be  so  to  instruct  a  boy  by  formal  guid- 
ance that  he  shall,  little  by  Httle,  come  to  find  himself  at  home  among 
agricultural  books,  bulletins,  and  current  Hterature.  To  be  able  to 
find  references  and  information  for  oneself  on  any  given  question  is 
an  important  result  of  good  education. 

In  connection  with  the  study  of  certain  questions,  therefore,  ask 
every  boy,  now  and  then,  to  find  material  by  consulting  the  index 
or  table  of  contents  of  some  book  purposely  omitted  from  the  project 
study  outline.  In  like  manner  require  every  boy  to  consult  the  agri- 
cultural papers  with  particular  reference  to  his  project,  as  these  are 
received  from  week  to  week. 

Moreover,  require  each  boy  to  develop  a  card  index  covering  in- 
formation of  peculiar  value  and  interest  to  himself ;  and  a  system 
of  filing,  and  finding  again,  such  notes,  clippings,  and  free  bulle- 
tins as  each  boy  may  be  helped  to  accumulate  for  his  private  use 
and  possession.' 

Finally,  send  every  boy  home  every  day  with  a  good  agricultural 
book,  bulletin,  or  report  bearing  on  his  home  project ;  also,  with  a 
definite  problem  to  work  out,  or  a  fact  or  principle  to  find,  which,  if 
it  does  not  require  it,  shall  at  least  attract  to  the  boy's  aid  the  coopera- 
tion of  his  father  or  some  other  member  of  the  household.  By  this 
means  the  boy's  interest  in  his  project  may  be  greatly  enhanced. 
Incidentally,  by  this  means,  also,  all  members  of  the  family  may 
become  participants  in  the  educational  work  of  the  department  or 
school.  In  sending  books  home  be  sure  to  include  those  which  strik- 
ingly illustrate,  with  diagrams  and  photographs,  the  matters  to  be 
studied  and  reported  upon. 

All  this  will  be  effective  training  of  the  power  of  the  pupils  for  inde- 
pendent study,  and  for  study  at  home. 

•  For  the  purpose  of  introducing  an  indexing  and  filing  system  suited  to  farming,  the 
Library  Bureau,  Boston,  has  agreed  to  put  together  and  deliver  at  cost  to  agricultural 
pupils  and  instructors  an  outfit  which  has  been  used  successfully  for  several  years  by 
practical  farmers,  and  is  now  known  by  the  name  "  .Agricultural  Project  Study  Index 
and  File." 


2£ 


4i8 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTUKAL   EDUCATION 


7.    Require  Talking 

Discussion  has  been  described  as  the  philosopher's  laboratory. 
Every  good  farmer  must  be  something  of  a  philosopher.  The  voca- 
tional instructor  should  be  on  his  guard  not  to  do  more  than  his  share 
of  the  talking.  Most  instructors  talk  too  much  themselves,  and  per- 
mit, or  require,  their  pupils  to  talk  too  little.  Require  talking,  both 
about  things  read  or  heard  or  observed,  and  about  things  planned  or 


Date 

Tr.\nsactions 

Hours 

Dairy 

19 1 4  Financial  Statement 

Man 

Horse 

Receipts 

Expenses 

My  labor @       .25 

Other  man  labor    .      .     .  @       .20 
Miscellaneous  expenses     .     .     . 

Net  profit        

Manure,  55  tons       .     .     @  $1.50 

5  Calves @     4.00 

31,342  lb.  milk     .     .     .     @       .022 

Stock  bought 

Inventory,  1913        

1914        

Feed 

S82 

20 

689 

336 

SO 
60 

52 

75 

$161 
90 

65 
144 

25 
243 

398 

SO 
59 
64 

80 

00 
00 

24 

Totals 

1,128 

77 

1,128 

77 

Fig.  302.  —  Copy  of  a  pupil's  approved  "  financial  statement "  for  a  year  on  a  dairy 

project  at  home. 

done.  Take  full  advantage  of  the  ''  round-up  "  period  at  the  end 
of  each  agricultural  half-day  for  this  purpose.  Especially  during  the 
summer,  in  your  supervision  of  the  projects  or  substitutes  therefor, 
keep  the  scientific  facts  and  principles  dealt  with  in  the  classroom  con- 
stantly reviewed  in  the  pupil's  talk  with  you  about  his  work  and  his 
observations. 

8.    Keep  Project  Records 

Complete  project  records  should  be  kept  by  every  vocational  agri- 
cultural instructor.  If  you  continue  several  years  at  the  same  post, 
you  will  need  them  for  comparison,  for  constructive  building  of  proj- 
ect on  project  to  complete  the  education  of  each  pupil,  for  evidence  of 
your  methods  of  instruction  and  supervision,  and  for  evaluation  of  the 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  AGRICULTURAL  INSTRUCTORS  419 

results  of  your  work  with  your  boys  by  those  above  you  who  must 
stand  as  sponsors  for  its  continued  support.  If  you  leave  your  post 
for  work  elsewhere,  your  successor  will  need  them.  They  will  enable 
him  to  judge  fairly  your  aims  and  efforts,  and  show  him  the  founda- 
tions you  have  prepared  for  his  further  building. 

(i)  Require  careful  planning  and  note-taking.  —  Require  evidence 
of  project  study  in  notebooks  kept  by  the  pupils.  The  most  satis- 
factory form  of  notebook  in  Massachusetts  reserves  two-thirds  of 
the  left  page,  set  off  by  a  vertical  line,  for  the  details  of  the  project 
plan  and  cross-references  to  drawings,  as  of  a  garden,  a  poultry  house, 
or  a  barn ;  one-third  (next  the  center)  for  the  references  consulted ; 
and  the  entire  right  page  for  notes  which  indicate  how  well  the  pupil 
understands  what  he  has  planned  to  do  or  is  doing.  This  form  of  note- 
book enables  the  instructor  to  review  at  a  glance  the  authorities  con- 
sulted, whether  in  print  or  in  person.  It  also  has  the  merit  of  keeping 
constantly  before  the  eyes  of  the  pupil  the  kinds  of  project  knowledge 
with  which  he  is  dealing  and  their  mutual  relations.  That  is  to  say, 
you  will  greatly  assist  him  toward  ability  to  sort  ideas,  toward  clarity 
of  thinking,  and  toward  cogency  of  reasoning,  if  you  will  require  the 
pupil  to  keep  Mtion  —  the  program  of  action  he  proposes  to  follow 
—  on  the  left  page  ;  and  keep  reflection  —  the  notes  of  the  pupil  indicat- 
ing the  study  he  has  made  and  his  intellectual  grasp  of  his  project  — 
on  the  right  page.  On  the  left,  keep  what  the  pupil  proposes  to  do ; 
on  the  right,  keep  record  of  the  factors  which  have  controlled  the 
pupil's  judgment  in  deciding  to  do  what  he  proposes. 

The  particular  form  of  notebook,  however,  is  but  a  means.  The 
desired  end  is  clear  evidence  of  sound  thinking.  The  pupil,  in  some 
form  of  notebook,  should  be  required  to  reduce  his  approved  agricul- 
tural ideas  to  writing,  because  this  will  be  one  of  the  best  forms  of 
evidence  that  his  training  is  placing  such  ideas  at  his  command. 

The  state  supervisor  will  doubtless  desire  to  inspect  these  project 
study  records  of  the  agricultural  pupils ;  but,  quite  apart  from  their 
value  as  evidence  for  state  or  federal  aid,  these  records  should  be  kept 
with  such  care  as  to  be  of  permanent  value  to  the  pupils  themselves 
in  their  future  unsupervised  farming  projects. 

Almost    immediately  the  project  study  outline    and    note-taking 


420  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 

method  as  an  aid  to  teaching  individuals,  as  distinguished  from  teach- 
ing classes,  gave  evidence  of  its  value  to  the  pupils  themselves.  One 
example  may  suffice  to  show  some  of  the  results  of  this  method. 

When  Mr.  L.  B.  Boston,  then  vocational  agricultural  instructor 
in  Petersham,  returned  from  the  summer  conference  in  1913,  he  wrote 
the  author:  "  Yesterday  on  my  visit  to  Nelson  I  found  him  more 
than  ever  on  the  job.  He  can  think  of  nothing  else  but  ducks.  He 
seems  to  have  been  doing  a  good  bit  of  outside  reading  on  the  subject, 
for  he  gave  me  for  correction  ten  full  pages  of  duck  notes  that  he  had 
composed  for  himself.  He  took  the  initiative  and  made  out  his  own 
outline  —  writing  the  answers  to  his  own  questions.  Such  work  as 
that  is  encouraging  to  a  teacher." 

Notice  that  this  boy  was  working  on  a  farm  where  he  had  found 
ducks,  and  that  the  studying  and  note-taking  were  done  in  summer 
when  this  boy  was  hard  at  work  during  the  day.  Other  boys  have 
made  outlines  for  themselves  of  such  value  that  they  have  been  in- 
corporated in  the  outlines  prepared  by  instructors  and  printed  or 
multigraphed,  for  general  use  in  the  state. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  most  boys  may  be  schooled  in  methods 
of  work  which  they  will  naturally  continue.  All  pains  taken  in  guid- 
ing their  first  steps  will  be  abundantly  rewarded  by  the  life-habits 
established. 

(2)  Require  accurate  accounting.  —  Each  project  pupil  in  Massa- 
chusetts keeps  a  daily  time  and  account  sheet.  A  satisfactory  form 
of  such  a  sheet  which  can  be  used  for  both  the  daily  items  and  the 
monthly  report  is  shown  above  in  Fig.  300.  From  the  daily 
record,  accounts  for  different  projects  are  made  up,  and  summaries 
of  the  various  projects  and  other  earnings  of  the  pupil  are  made.  An 
example  of  an  approved  monthly  summary  is  shown  in  Fig.  300. 
Accounts  of  a  dairy  project  may  include  such  a  detailed  indi- 
vidual cow  account  as  that  shown  in  Fig.  301.  Elaborate  as  may  be 
individual  cow  accounts,  such  as  that  above  referred  to,  the  financial 
summary  for  a  year  on  a  dairy  project  where  such  accounts  for  all 
cows  are  kept  may  be  reduced  to  very  simple  form.  This  can  be  seen 
in  the  summary  shown  in  Fig.  302.  All  of  the  foregoing  examples 
are  from  one  boy's  accounting  on  projects  conducted  the  same  year. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  AGRICULTURAL  INSTRUCTORS 


421 


During  the  time  when  the  office  of  Farm  Management  of  the  U.  S. 
Department  of  Agriculture  strongly  urged  farmers  to  use  the  daily 
record  book  it  had  prepared,  a  book  like  it,  in  the  interest  of  good  team- 
work, was  used  by  agricultural  pupils  in  Massachusetts.  Alternate 
sheets  were  perforated  at  the  edge.  Carbon  paper  was  used,  and  the 
sheets  giving  the  carbon  copies  of  the  daily  records  were  detached  and 
filed  with  the  agricultural  instructor.  Space  was  added  for  notes  on 
unseasonable  or  otherwise  significant  conditions  of  weather  and  tem- 
perature, also  for  items  of  outgo  and  income  to  be  spread  on  the  proj- 
ect accounts.  A  copy  of  that  form  of  sheet  from  among  those  filled 
out  by  the  boy  above  referred  to,  is  shown  in  Fig.  299.  When  the 
Washington  people  ceased  urging  farmers  to  use  such  sheets,  their  use 
by  agricultural  pupils  was  discontinued,  in  favor  of  a  simple  day 
book ;  or  a  special  time,  temperature,  and  project  account  sheet ; 
or  sheets  like  that  shown  in  Fig.  300,  above  mentioned. 

Pupils  have  shown  greatest  interest  and  efficiency  in  accounting 
where  instructors  have  helped  them  to  work  out  classifications  of  items 
of  income  and  outgo  in  separate  columns  under  headings  of  particular 
interest  to  the  pupils ;  and  provisions  for  comparison  by  years  of  in- 
ventories and  the  like.  Though  excellent  results  have  been  had  else- 
where, no  instructor  has  been  more  successful  in  this  than  Mr.  A.  W. 
DooUttle  of  Concord.  With  him,  a  poultry  pupil's  account  book 
begins  with  pages  reserved  for  the  "  Inventories  "  from  year  to  year. 
Next,  pages  are  reserved  for  "  monthly  statements  "  of  "  Resources," 
and  "  Profit  and  Loss,"  including  the  "  Balance,"  whether  profit  or 
loss.  Then,  pages  are  reserved  for  the  "  Yearly  Summaries  "  in  which 
the  totals  by  months  are  shown  under  the  following  headings : 


Income 


Month 

Item 

Market  Eggs 

Hatching  Eggs 
AND  Chicks 

Market  Poultry 
Broilers 

Total 

Nov 

Tot;il  for  month 

$3 

35 

$3 

35 

422 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


Expense 


Month 

Item 

Feed 

Miscellaneous 

Labor 

Total 

Nov. 

Total  for  month 

$6 

40 

$2 

17 

$8 

57 

Finally,  there  follow  most  of  the  pages  of  the  book  ruled  according 
to  the  foregoing  classifications  of  "  Income  "  and  "  Expense,"  with 
detailed  items  entered  from  day  to  day,  under  these  headings,  on  op- 
posite pages.  These  accounts  are  balanced  and  ruled  off  with  red  and 
black  ink  in  good  bookkeeping  form  monthly. 

Mr.  Wells  A.  Hall,  Superintendent  of  Schools  in  Concord,  has 
cooperated  with  Mr.  Doohttle  in  another  incentive  to  alertness  and 
accuracy.  He  has  approved  an  arrangement  by  which  selected  pupils 
in  the  commercial  department  of  the  Concord  High  School  audit 
monthly  the  project  accounts  of  the  agricultural  pupils.  He  has 
approved,  also,  an  arrangement  through  which,  by  use  of  the  School 
Bank,  Mr.  Doohttle  is  familiarizing  his  agricultural  pupils  with  bank 
papers  and  procedures.  All  items  of  "  Income  "  or  "  Expense  "  are 
put  through  the  school  bank,  by  deposit,  check,  note,  and  the  like, 
just  as  such  items  are  taken  care  of  by  aid  of  banks  in  the  cases  of 
adult  farmers. 

Director  George  H.  Gilbert  of  the  Bristol  County  Agricultural 
School  has  introduced  the  use  of  an  even  larger  and  more  durably 
bound  book,  and,  aided"  by  the  father  of  two  of  his  pupils  who  is  a 
banker,  has  put  a  premium  on  personal  accounts  and  thrift  by  award- 
ing prizes  for  the  best-kept  accounts  and  the  best  evidences  of  personal 
thrift. 

Methods  and  devices  like  the  foregoing  cannot  be  too  warmly  com- 
mended. 

If,  for  purposes  of  state  or  federal  aid,  it  becomes  necessary  to  file 
certain  financial  returns  on  your  projects  or  those  of  your  pupils,  keep 
the  minds  of  your  pupils  and  your  own  mind  clear  as  to  the  separate 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  AGRICULTURAL  INSTRUCTORS  423 

and  wholly  different  purposes  to  be  served  by  such  returns.  Put 
yourself  and  your  pupils  in  the  way  of  picking  up  the  data  for  state 
or  federal  returns  from  day  to  day.  The  daily  time  and  account 
sheet  shown  in  Fig.  300,  on  page  412,  above  referred  to,  is  in  form  to 
enable  the  instructor  to  pick  up  all  data  on  the  employment  of  agri- 
cultural pupils  required  in  Massachusetts.  But  bear  in  mind  that 
such  a  sheet  as  this  should  meet  two  quite  distinct  and  independent 
needs,  the  need,  on  one  hand,  of  a  report  to  the  state,  but  the  need,  on 
the  other  hand,  of  the  pupil  himself  as  a  farmer. 

If  you  are  in  charge  of  school  projects,  see  to  it  that  you  keep  ex- 
actly the  same  kind  of  accounts  that  you  require  of  your  pupils.  Doing 
this  should  tend  not  only  toward  accuracy  but  also  toward  clarity  and 
simpUcity.  Require  accounts  such  as  you  think  the  pupil  will  find 
valuable  in  after  years  as  a  farmer,  and  will  be  able  to  keep  with  so 
little  labor  that  he  will  never  neglect  or  be  without  them. 

(3)  Make  photographic  records.  —  Use  a  camera.  Records  by 
photographs  are  convenient.  They  may  be  readily  filed  and  com- 
pared. For  printed  reports  or  public  exhibitions  they  are  interesting 
evidence  of  work  done ;  and  as  evidence  of  equipment,  methods,  and 
results,  they  are,  when  taken  by  the  supervising  instructor,  both 
illuminating  and  convincing.  The  eye  of  the  camera  is  faithful. 
Credit  is  given  where  credit  is  due.  The  eye  of  the  camera  is,  also, 
inexorable,  —  it  neither  condones  nor  forgives. 

Home  surroundings,  for  example,  may  in  one  respect  or  another  be 
bad,  yet  the  instructor's  photograph  may  be  the  first  vivid  means  of 
showing  the  boy  his  home  as  others  see  it  —  his  home  as  it  is.  On  the 
photograph,  or  by  its  aid,  the  boy  may  select  modest  projects  for  im- 
provement which  are  to  be  carried  out  within  the  first  year ;  others, 
within  the  succeeding  years  of  his  school  course.  Later  photographs 
will  show  that  he  has  done  what  he  planned  to  do  towards  making 
his  home  what,  at  his  hands,  —  considering  the  boy's  age,  strength,  and 
resources,  —  his  home  ought  to  be. 

In  many  neighborhoods  the  best  types  of  Hve-stock,  for  another 
e.xample,  can  only  be  shown  the  pupil  by  aid  of  illustrations  in  farm 
papers  or  in  books.  It  will  add  not  a  little  of  interest  and  value  to 
the  instruction  of  the  pupil,  if,  in  addition  to  comparing,  for  e.xample, 


424  VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTUR.\L   EDUCATION 

the  boy's  best  cow  with  the  highest  record  queen  of  her  breed  and  type, 
as  shown  in  a  book  or  paper,  a  photograph  of  his  cow  taken  from  the 
same  point  of  view  as  that  of  the  illustration  be  placed  side  by  side 
for  comparison  with  that  of  the  queen.  The  boy  may  thus  be  made  to 
see  the  more  vividly  what  to  work  towards  in  his  future  buying  or 
breeding.  Photographs  of  farm  products  of  unusual  excellence  may 
endure  long  after  the  products  themselves  have  been  sold  or  consumed, 
and  may  afford  the  only  means  of  comparing  the  form  and  appearance 
of  products  one  year  with  those  of  earlier  or  later  years.  For  educa- 
tional purposes  such  photographs  add  vastly  to  the  value  of  records 
dealing  with  types,  yields,  and  comparative  results  in  farm  production. 

The  architect  uses  a  camera  for  record  of  the  ground  on  which, 
and  of  the  surroundings  among  which,  his  proposed  building  is  to  be 
placed.  The  landscape  architect  uses  a  camera  in  order  that  he  may 
the  more  effectively  work  from  existing  grades,  contours,  and  planting 
to  the  final  grouping' of  trees  and  shrubs,  contours,  and  grades  which 
his  design  will  establish.  Even  in  athletics  the  crew  and  football 
coaches  find  the  camera  a  fault-finder  and  a  praise-bestower  more 
convincing  on  one  hand,  and  more  inspiring  on  the  other,  than  their 
strongest  words.  The  traveler  records  now  in  photographs  more 
often  than  in  journals  the  things  he  has  seen  and  done.  Camera 
records  are  widely  valued. 

If  the  camera  may  be  an  inexorable  revealer  of  agricultural  faults, 
it  is  evident  that  it  may,  also,  be  made  a  faithful  revealer  of  agricul- 
tural virtues.  In  short,  a  camera,  used  in  connection  with  each  boy's 
instruction  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  each  boy's  course,  must 
be  looked  upon  by  the  sympathetic  instructor  as  one  of  his  most  im- 
portant aids,  not  merely  in  faithfully  recording  the  home  progress  of 
his  pupils,  but  also  for  inspiring  and  sustaining  the  highest  order  of 
project  work  and  project  study. 

(4)  Make  farm  practice  records.  —  Keep  a  record  of  each  pupil, 
showing  your  opinion  as  to  his  capacity  for  planning  farm  work  and 
his  skill  in  farm  operations.  Keep  the  kind  of  record  which  would 
enable  you  to  recommend  a  boy  for  a  particular  job,  if  he  were  to  leave 
school  before  graduation  ;  or  for  a  more  responsible  job,  if  he  were  to 
complete  the  full  course. 


SUGGESTIOx\S   TO   AGRICULTURAL   INSTRUCTORS 


425 


Make  a  list  of  the  things  the  most  capable  boy  may  be  trained 
to  do  in  matters  of  farm  routine.  Then  test  each  boy  from  time 
to  time,  and  check  to  his  credit  those  items  on  your  list  for  which 
he  shows  you  that  he  should  receive  credit.  Include  such  items  as 
ability  to  harness  a  gentle  horse,  to  harness  a  horse  that  is  notional 
if  not  exactly  vicious,  to  harness  a  pair  of  horses,  and  for  various 
purposes ;  to  plow ;  to  cultivate ;  to  mow  by  hand  and  by  machine ; 
to  milk,  to  cleanse  and  sterihze  utensils,  to  keep  down  the  numbers  of 
bacteria  in  milk  by  care  of  stable,  cows,  and  his  own  person  and  cloth- 
ing ;  to  prune  and  to  spray ;  to  size,  to  pack,  to  store,  or  to  sell  fruit 
and  vegetables.  Include  items  as  to  his  habits,  such  as  whether  or 
not  he  rises  early  without  calling,  or  promptly  when  called,  is  regular, 
punctual,  and  reliable  in  doing  chores,  is  a  willing  worker,  and 
the  like. 

Make  your  certification  records  progressive.  Let  them  center 
around  the  groups  of  projects  published  for  given  years,  and  advance 
year  by  year  from  group  to  group.  By  the  end  of  each  boy's  course 
you  will  thus  know  from  your  own  observation  what  each  pupil  is 
capable  of  doing. 

Finally,  as  your  knowledge  of  each  boy  grows,  reduce  your  record 
to  writing.  Put  it  in  a  form  which  may  become  part  of  the  permanent 
records  of  your  agricultural  school  or  department. 

Following  is  a  section  from  what  the  author  considers  the  best  form 
of  farm  practice  record  so  far  developed  in  Massachusetts. 


Swine  Keeping 

Skill  at 
Entrance 

CERTIFICATION 

(All  required  for  those  tak- 
ing Swine  Keeping) 

I.  Caring  for  and    feeding 
brood  sow  and  pigs     . 

Skill 

Age 

Year 

Certified  by 

2.  Caring  for  and  feeding 
growing  pigs      .     .     . 

3.  Caring  for  and    feeding 
fattening  hogs   .     .     . 

1 

4.  Butchering 

5.  Castrating 

6. 

7- 

426  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 

The  sheet  from  which  the  above  section  is  taken  covers  the  detailed 
farm  practice  required  in  connection  with  the  projects  of  a  four  years' 
course,  and  measures  i8"x24".  Such  a  sheet  shows  at  a  glance  any 
gaps  which  ought  to  be  filled,  in  order  to  balance  up  and  complete  the 
training  undertaken  in  each  boy's  case.  For  this  purpose  it  is  better 
than  smaller  separate  sheets  or  cards.  Another  section  from  this  sheet 
is  shown  above  in  Fig.  i8o.  Under  "  Skill  at  Entrance  "  each  boy  is 
asked  to  give  himself  the  rating  he  thinks  he  deserves  at  the  outset. 
Ratings  by  the  instructor  are  entered  as  earned.  Such  a  permanent, 
intelligent,  and  clear-cut  record  is  due  both  instructor  and  pupil. 

(5)  Make  supervision  and  instruction  records.  —  A  convenient 
form  of  supervision  record  is  shown  in  Fig.  303.  This  was  filled  out 
by  an  instructor  at  a  visit  to  one  of  his  pupils.  It  is  4"  x  6",  or 
exactly  the  right  size  to  file  behind  the  sort  of  enrollment  and  agree- 
ment tab-card  shown  above  in  Fig.  290. 

The  record  of  a  visit  should  single  out  only  the  most  important  items 
of  instruction  or  comment.     It  should,  of  course,  be  legibly  written. 

A  natural  method  of  using  such  a  blank  is  first  to  go  over  informally 
all  matters  of  importance,  then  to  say,  "  If  you  will  wait  a  moment, 
I  will  jot  down  a  few  of  the  things  mentioned,"  and,  finally,  to  say, 
"  If  you  will  sign  this,  I  will  leave  it  with  you."  Few  will  demur  at 
signing  the  slip.  The  carbon  copy  left  in  your  book  will  then  serve 
as  a  voucher  in  case  of  controversy,  and,  in  any  event,  as  a  memo- 
randum of  what  was  done  at  this  visit. 

People  are  prone  to  forget.  Records  of  this  sort  are  of  the  utmost 
value  in  all  advisory  work  and  itinerant  teaching.  Advice  and  in- 
struction can  be  put  in  very  simple  terms.  Rations,  fertilizer  names, 
formulas  for  spraying,  varieties,  quantities,  and  the  like  may  be  so 
stated  as  to  avoid  any  possibility  of  error.  By  using  a  rubber  stamp, 
if  the  printed  slip  does  not  give  this  information,  you  can  show  at  the 
bottom  of  the  slip  the  school  you  represent,  your  name  and  title,  your 
telephone  number  and  your  post-office  address.  Thus  the  person 
visited  or  advised  may  find  in  his  hand  all  desirable  information. 

If  a  pupil  is  delinquent,  let  him  sign  and  receive  your  warning  once  ; 
but  be  sure  to  let  the  parent  or  guardian  receive  and  sign  for  the  second. 
Thus,  all  laxity  and  misunderstandings  may  be  avoided. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO   AGRICULTURAL   INSTRUCTORS  42? 


If  you  go  to  a  new 
position,  your  suc- 
cessor will  find  such 
records  invaluable. 
They  will  show  him 
exactly  what  you  have 
advised  or  taught  and 
the  responses  of  those 
with  whom  you  have 
worked. 

(6)  Require  reports 
in  writing.  In  addition 
to  his  planning  and 
related  study  notes, 
each  pupil  should  jot 
down  through  the  year 
his  occasional  obser- 
vations as  to  condi- 
tions, favorable  and 
unfavorable  to  his 
projects,  and  any  in- 
cidental data  of  scien- 
tific or  practical  im- 
portance. 

A.  Reports  for  the 
project  instructor.  — 
When  the  accounts 
previously  discussed 
are  filed,  there  should 
also  be  presented  a 
written  report  based 
upon  such  careful  rec- 
ords as  those  just  men- 
tioned, showing  the 
essential  scientific  and 
economic   factors   ob- 


r  -^ 

1 

WORCESTER  HIGH  SCHOOL 

AGRICULTURAL  DEPT. 

PROJECT  SUPERVISION  RECORD 
and  ADVISORY  WORK 


:     DATE: 


MEMO 


^m* 


OAA^ 


.    AaXtw 


un-MJeA , 


lAA^V^A. 


CWnA   C*. 


cr>-^' 


jJLJi^i    (DM. 


C    t     LEE. 
tuCRANCE    STREET, 
MONE   PARK.  6651 


Acrieultural  Instructor 

ADDRESS 
„,OH     SCHOOl.    Of     CO 


ISV        42 


WORCtSTtp, 


viElRCE, 


Fig.  303.  —  Agricultural  instructor's  supervision  and  in- 
struction memorandum  and  the  oilcloth  cover  into 
which  the  pad  of  blanks  fits.  Sheets  4"  x  6",  stock  size 
to  fit  enrollment  tab-cards  when  filed.     See  page  426. 


428  VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 

served  during  the  progress  of  each  project.  The  report  should,  of 
course,  be  written  with  special  reference  to. the  things  which  the  pupil, 
as  a  result  of  his  experience,  would  do,  or  avoid  doing,  in  future  proj- 
ects of  like  character. 

Let  the  written  report,  so  far  as  it  deals  with  project  management 
and  results,  be  of  exactly  the  same  sort  that  you  yourself  file  on  the 
completion  of  a  season's  project  work  on  school  land,  if  you  have  con- 
ducted projects  at  a  school ;  and  let  it  be  filed  at  the  same  time  as  your 
own  report.  Thus,  you  and  your  pupil  will  be  turning  over  in  your 
minds  at  the  same  time  the  same  sort  of  project,  and  a  comparison 
of  observations  and  conclusions  should  be  doubly  interesting  and 
valuable. 

Occasional  reports  to  bring  out  the  pupil's  sense  of  the  educational 
factors  in  his  course  are  valuable.  Following  are  excerpts  from  a 
leport  of  a  pupil  in  which  he  shows  that  he  clearly  understands  why 
his  instructor  has  not  taught  all  projects  alike.  They  are  from  the 
report  prepared  by  H.  C.  Norcross  of  Brimfield,  from  whose  accounts 
the  examples  are  given  to  which  reference  was  made  in  the  foregoing 
section  on  accounts. 

After  describing  his  farm  experience  before  and  after  entering  the 
vocational  agricultural  course,  and  reporting  upon  his  five  home  proj- 
ects conducted  that  year,  this  pupil  continued : 

These  three  latter  projects  [soiling  crops,  corn  and  potatoes]  were  taken 
up  in  a  different  manner  from  the  other  two  [dairying  and  orchard  renovation]. 
Instead  of  studying  and  practicing  at  the  same  time,  I  began  my  study  last 
fall,  and  before  I  had  begun  to  put  my  knowledge  into  use  a  great  deal  I  had 
practically  concluded  my  study; 

My  experience  with  this  school  has  taught  me  that  there  are  two  kinds 
of  projects.  In  the  first  place,  there  are  those  whose  practical  side  the  pupil 
is  engaged  in  every  day  in  the  year  upon  his  own  farm.  There  are  also  those 
which  the  pupil  can  put  into  practice  but  once  a  year.  The  first  case  can  be 
illustrated  with  the  project,  dairying.  Nearly  every  pupil  who  studies  dairy- 
ing has  a  herd  of  his  own.  He  has  not  been  caring  for  it  in  a  way  to  insure 
him  the  maximum  production  at  the  minimum  cost.  When  he  learns  that  by 
balancing  the  ration  he  can  double  the  milk  flow,  he  naturally  is  anxious  to  try 
it.  He  may  make  a  few  mistakes  at  the  beginning,  but  by  experimenting  he 
finally  succeeds  in  producing  the  desired  effect.  Naturally  encouraged  with  the 
results,  he  takes  added  interest  in  his  work ;    and,  by  putting  the   acquired 


SUGGESTIONS   TO  AGRICULTURAL  INSTRUCTORS 


429 


VOCATIONAL  AGRI- 
CULTURAL SCHOOLS 
OR  DEPARTMENTS 


Schools 

Northampton       .     . 
Bristol  County    . 
Essex  County 
Norfolk  County  .     . 
Weymouth  Branch 

Departments 

Petersham 
Hadley  .... 
Harwich  .... 
Easton  .... 
Brimfield  .... 
Ashfield  .... 
Concord  .... 
Marlborough  .  .  . 
Clinton  .... 
Reading  .... 
Leominster  .  .  . 
New  Salem  .  .  . 
Newton  .... 
Orange  


Totals  for  ipi2 
Totals  for  1913 
Totals  for  191 4 
Totals  for  1915 
Totals  for  191 6 


1917 


ENROLLMENT 


Boys 


43 
SO 
161 
42 
10 


6 

21 

8 

15 
10 
16 
29 
10 
10 
32 
14 
6 

13 
IS 


Totals SI  I 


66 

86 

230 

413 

489 


Girls 


Total 


EARNINGS 


Farm 
Work 


43 
SO 
163 
43 
10 


7 
21 
II 

15 
10 
16 
29 
10 
10 
32 
14 
6 

13 
15 


SIS' 


70 
89 

23s 
418 

497 


S  9.495-73 
10,645.79 
36,760.3s 

4.136. S3 
2,820.20 


2,187.53 
5,694.40 
2,39S-30 
3,733-46 
4,726.73 
3,362.56 

9,346-34 

2,079.88 

3,54409 

4,350-64 
1 

275-53 
2,697.44 

3,248-37 


111,500  87 


9,754-28 
15,399-90 
37,936.67 
51,279.89 
75.766.53 


Other 
Work 


Grand  Totals 


)    217.88 

1,422.7c 

3,224.03 

384.19 

101.30 


94-05 
171.50 
554-oS 

406.75 

17-50 

332-94 

308.00 

345-07 

309-77 

430.00 

1 


488.4c 


8,808  16 


1,345-89 
2,582.61 
4,1  24,06 
4,974.86 
8,406.90 


Cash 


Total  Cash 
and  Credit 


$  2,628.43 

8,558.61 

23,087.34 

3,550.78 

2,869.70 


'    391-68 

1,048.86 

1,562.28 

2,962.46 

5SS-3C 

3,11700 

5,004.15 

998.78 

493-57 

2,273.80 


2,697.44 
1.951.08 


63,751.26 


25, 229-73 
44,977-15 


9,713-61 

12,068.49 

39.984-38 

4.520.72 

2,921.50 


2,281 
5,86s 
2.949 
4,140 

4,744 
3,695 
9,654 
2,424 

3,853 
4,780 
1 

275 
2,697 

3,736 


58 
90 
38 
21 

23 
SO 

34 
95 
86 

64 

53 
44 
77 


120,309.032 


11,100.17 
17,982.15 
42,060.73 
56,254.75 
84,173-43 


Fig.  304.  —  Earnings  of  vocational  agricultural  pupils  from  farm  work  and  other  work 
during  the  periods  covered  by  their  school  attendance  and  their  farming  projects. 

'  Returns  not  complete.     Agricultural  instructor  drafted. 

'  In  addition  to  this,  2549  persons  over  1 7  years  of  age  who  did  war  garden  work  under 
the  supervision  of  vocational  agricultural  instructors,  grew  agricultural  products  for  home 
use  and  for  sale  or  exchange  to  the  value  of:  Sold  or  exchanged,  $28,097.21  ;  for  home 
use,  $45,083.50;  total,  $73,180.71.  This  work  was  done  in  Falmouth,  Holyoke,  North 
Adams,  North  Attleboro,  Norwood,  Saugus,  Wakefield,  and  Worcester. 


430  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 

knowledge  into  immediate  practice,  he  obtains  the  benefit  at  once,  instead  of 
in  a  year  or  two  when  he  has  finished  the  course. 

Now  let  us  consider  the  other  kind  of  projects.  These  we  will  illustrate 
with  potatoes.  This  project  is  one  the  profits  of  which  are  to  be  realized  only 
after  three  to  five  months  of  hard  work  and  many  expenses.  These  profits 
will  be  influenced  by  every  move  on  the  part  of  the  pupil,  according  as  it  be 
correct  or  incorrect.  Therefore  before  starting  he  must  be  absolutely  certain 
that  he  is  right  or  the  crop  will  be  limited  by  his  mistakes.  Consequently  the 
pupil  has  no  time  to  experiment  as  with  the  dairy ;  for,  while  in  this  case  he 
may  decrease  the  production  of  one  cow  for  a  day  or  two  by  his  errors,  in  the 
second  case  he  will  be  likely  to  lose  $150  or  $200.  To  be  assured  that  he  is 
correct  he  must  make  a  thorough  study  of  the  subject,  —  not  taking  one  man's 
word  as  infallible,  but  reading  the  experiences  of  different  successful  potato 
growers  and  comparing  them.  He  must  do  everything  possible  to  extermi- 
nate the  limiting  factor  which  is  bound  to  arise  with  every  mistake.  We  can 
readily  see,  then,  that  although  it  is  a  very  good  plan  to  put  knowledge  into 
immediate  practice,  one  cannot  always  afford  to  do  so  unless  he  be  sure  of  the 
outcome.  Therefore  in  my  opinion  these  two  methods  of  study  should  be  re- 
tained in  the  school  as  two  distinct  systems,  each  to  be  equally  important  and 
either  one  to  be  applied  as  the  case  maj-  demand. 

Now,  of  course,  we  have  taken  great  interest  in  all  of  our  projects,  both 
at  home  and  at  school,  but  I  think  this  interest  has  been  caused  to  a  great 
extent  by  the  records  and  accounts  which  we  keep.  Each  student  in  the  dairy 
class  is  furnished  with  a  record  book  in  which  he  inserts  every  month  the 
production  of  each  cow  separately.  This  he  is  able  to  do  by  the  use  of  the 
milk  scales  and  daily  milk  record  sheets.  He  also  weighs  the  grain  and 
roughage  fed  the  cows  each  day,  and  tabulates  the  total  for  the  month  in  the 
record  book.  The  milk  of  each  cow  is  tested  once  a  month,  and  in  this  way 
it  is  a  very  easy  matter  to  find  the  profit  or  loss  of  every  cow  for  the  year.  We 
are  also  given  blank  sheets  on  which  we  keep  account  of  all  receipts  and  ex- 
penses on  our  crops.  We  are  enabled  to  make  the  entries  for  labor  at  any 
time  by  the  use  of  the  daily  time  sheets  which  we  make  out  every  night. 
Therefore  we  can  tell  at  any  time  the  exact  amount  put  on  each  crop  or  cow. 
In  this  way  our  projects  are  completed,  and  we  have  the  satisfaction  of  know- 
ing that  they  have  been  done  right. 

Our  interest  in  our  work  never  wavers  for  an  instant,  for  we  know  we 
are  bound  to  succeed  in  the  end. 

B.  Reports  for  possible  publication.  —  Miss  Maud  Amsden  was  the 
champion  potato  grower  in  1916  among  agricultural  club  members 
in  this  state.  Her  notes  and  accounts  were  important  aids  to  winning. 
That  they  were  exact  and  valuable  will  be  evident  from  the  following 
newspaper  account  in  which  the  award  was  announced. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  AGRICULTURAL  INSTRUCTORS  43 1 

Maud  Amsden,  an  18-year-old  miss 
from  Petersham  in  Worcester  county, 
is  the  state  champion  in  the  Massa- 
chusetts boys'  and  girls'  potato  club 
for  1916.  On  one-eighth  of  an  acre 
she  raised  44.9  bushels,  a  rate  per 
acre  of  359.2  bushels;  and  this  was  on 
land  which  had  been  farmed  for  100 
years.  The  variety  was  the  Irish  Cob- 
bler, the  seed  was  treated  with  forma- 
lin for  scab,  cut  into  two-eye  pieces, 
these  pieces  planted  four  inches  deep 
in  rows  two  and  a  half  feet  apart  and 
the  pieces  12  inches  apart  in  the  rows. 
The  vines  were  sprayed  four  times 
and  were  not  damaged  by  insects  or 
disease.  Her  product  was  exhibited  at 
Springfield,  January  9-12,  and  was 
there  judged  for  quality.  Her  "  story 
of  experience,"  which  is  required  from 
all  club  members,  ranked  very  high  in- 
deed. There  was  a  total  of  500  in  the 
club,  distributed  throughout  the  state, 
and  while  there  were  one  or  two  others 
whose  yields  were  slightly  larger  they 
failed  to  complete  all  the  requirements  of 
the  club. 

This  is  the  young  lady  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott  visited  in  191 7  and  speaks 
of  in  the  following  chapter  on  page  458.  She  was  in  the  vocational 
agricultural  course.  That  club  work  and  vocational  agricultural 
education  may  be  combined  to  good  advantage  where  the  age  limits 
permit  will  be  evident  from  her  following  notes  on  her  1916  expe- 
rience :  "I  am  sure  that  my  crops  would  have  been  less  of  a  success 
if  I  had  not  treated  my  seed  with  formalin  for  scab.  .  .  .  He  [the 
agricultural  instructor]  had  advised  me  several  times  to  do  this.  .  .  . 
I  thought  it  would  be  all  right  to  use  sulphur  in  its  place.  ...  At 
the  last  minute  Mr.  Edwards  called  and  advised  me  by  all  means  to 
use  formalin.  ...  I  used  it  and  cannot  thank  Mr.  Edwards  enough. 
...  He  advised  spraying.  It  was  the  last  time  for  doing  this  and  I 
had  decided  to  leave  this  spraying  out,  and  thought  the  field  would 


i^2  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 

be  all  right ;  but  he  said,  '  Spray  by  all  means,'  .  .  .  and  accordingly 
I  gave  my  field  another  spraying. ' '  Her  notes  show  that  her  instructor 
"  measured  ofif  the  eighth  acre  of  land,"  that  "  when  the  crop  was 
harvested,  he  weighed  the  potatoes,"  and  that  he  gave  her  "  more 
good  advice  concerning  not  only  the  potato  project,  but  poultry, 
swine,  cattle,  and  sweet  pea  projects  "  which  she  was  carrying  that 
summer.  Her  record  includes  the  remarks,  that  the  potato  crop  was 
"  greatly  improved  over  preceding  years,"  and  that  the  course  in 
agriculture  had  helped  her  "  wonderfully  "  toward  keeping  her  ac- 
counts, for  as  she  said,  "  Before,  I  seemed  not  to  do  very  well,  and 
now  it  is  all  clear  to  me."  After  graduation,  she  wrote  to  ask  if  she 
might  continue  to  be  suppUed  with  account  sheets  and  to  turn  them 
in  monthly. 

C.  Reports  for  double  credit.  —  Written  reports  may  be  made  to 
serve  a  double  purpose,  that  of  the  project  teacher  and  that  of  the 
teacher  of  English  or  economics.  Following  is  a  short  paper  pre- 
pared for  a  teacher  of  EngUsh  in  the  Essex  County  Agricultural 
School.  It  is  a  bit  introspective,  sufficiently  so  to  indicate  a  well- 
defined  motive  for  attending  a  vocational  agricultural  school,  though 
the  only  girl  in  the  class ;  but  it  is  primarily  a  story  of  agricultural 
aspiration,  adjustment,  and  achievement : 

The  Origin  and  Development  of  my  Interest  in  .Agriculture 

The  lonesomeness  of  a  newcomer  in  a  small  town  was  probably  responsible 
for  my  becoming  interested  in  agricultural  activities.  Some  four  years  ago  we 
moved  a  couple  of  miles  from  one  part  of  Merrimac  to  another.  In  the  new 
neighborhood  I  found  1  was  practically  a  stranger.  The  girls  of  my  age  were 
divided  into  small  groups,  unwilling  to  admit  strangers  or  new  ideas.  Each 
group  of  girls  kept  apart  in  games  and  social  activities,  and  if  I  was  to  find 
companionship  I  found  it  necessary  to  form  a  new  grouping.  Fortunately 
I  was  interested  in  bird-study,  and  we  soon  started  a  bird  club,  which  rapidly 
grew  to  thirty  members,  from  all  parts  of  town  and  from  all  classes.  It  was 
laughingly  said  that  our  Bird  Club  was  the  only  democratic  organization  in 
town.  When  our  Bird  Club  won  third  prize  in  a  National  Audubon  competi- 
tion open  to  all  Bird  Clubs  the  townspeople  were  secretly  much'  pleased. 

I  could  see  how  our  Bird  Club  gave  the  girls  broader  interests  and  made 
them  friendly  to  each  other,  and  T  was  anxious  to  help  along  a  similar  move- 
ment.    The  state  club  movement  seemed  to  offer  the  best  chance. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  AGRICULTURAL  INSTRUCTORS  433 

Among  other  ideas  for  community  improvement  my  mother  was  leader  of 
the  Home  Garden  Club  in  Merrimac.  My  younger  brother  and  sisters  and 
myself  of  course  were  in  the  contests.  We  exhibited  freely  wherever  possible 
in  order  to  show  what  children  could  do.  I  won  over  S50  in  cash  prizes, 
exhibiting  three  years  at  Amesbury  P^air  and  one  year  at  Topsiield.  I  also  sent 
exhibits  to  the  state  fair  and  to  the  Eastern  States  Exposition,  and  have 
competed  in  stock-judging  contests  at  Amesbury,  Topsfield,  and  Springfield. 

My  exhibits  included  products  from  my  garden,  canning  done  in  the  Canning 
Club,  pigs  raised  in  the  Pig  Club,  and  stories  of  my  club  work.  I  had  con- 
siderable success  in  winning  prizes  along  these  lines,  and  have  also  won  prizes 
in  story-writing. 

The  greatest  pleasure  and  benefit  to  me  lies  in  the  chance  I  have  had  to 
watch  the  gradual  unfolding  of  these  ideas  in  the  community.  For  instance, 
the  Merrimac  Garden  Club  members  held  small  local  exhibits  of  their  products, 
and  these  exhibits  attracted  such  attention  and  interest,  that  the  Grange  in 
our  town  was  spurred  to  run  an  agricultural  fair.  This  fair  was  the  first  they 
had  had  ih  forty  years.  At  my  mother's  earnest  request  a  table  was  provided 
for  the  children  of  the  Garden  Club,  and  this  table  was  one  of  the  best  exhibits 
in  the  hall.  The  Grange  found  a  financial  benefit  in  taking  an  interest  in  the 
general  public,  and  after  several  of  their  agricultural  fairs,  which  they  have 
made  an  annual  feature,  they  have  collected  a  sizable  fund  towards  building  a 
hall  of  their  own. 

On  account  of  the  comparatively  cheap  land  available  close  to  good  markets 
there  would  seem  to  be  unusual  opportunities  for  one  properly  trained  for 
Agriculture  in  New  England.  Because  I  liked  out-door  life  and  enjoyed  civic 
development  of  the  community,  I  decided  to  get  an  agricultural  training. 
I  applied  for  admission  to  the  Essex  County  .-Vgricultural  School,  and  because 
Director  Smith  was  familiar  with  some  of  the  things  I  had  done,  I  was  admitted 
as  a  pupil  in  the  agricultural  course,  where  I  am  the  only  girl  in  the  class. 
To  avoid  excessive  travel  in  going  to  school,  and  to  secure  better  practical 
experience  along  agricultural  lines  taught  in  the  .Agricultural  School,  we  have 
taken  a  farm  in  North  .\ndover.  This  location  is  near  enough  to  school  so 
that  the  transportation  question  is  solved,  while  the  farm  offers  so  many 
problems  in  different  soils  and  possible  crops,  orchards,  cranberry  meadow, 
woodlot,  and  sanitation  that  I  should  have  a  wide  knowledge  of  correct  farm 
methods  by  the  time  these  problems  are  solved. 

The  school  course  promises  training  along  the  agricultural  lines  necessary 
to  make  farming  profitable.  I  find  that  girls  can  do  the  work  thought  gener- 
ally to  belong  more  properly  to  boys.  In  contest  with  Bristol  County  I  got 
the  school  letter  for  winning  first  in  seed  identification. 

Stock-judging  is  another  course  offered  to  more  advanced  classes.  In 
judging  four  classes  of  stock  at  .\mesbury  Fair,  I  won  first  prize,  so  was  ad- 
mitted a  member  of  the  school  team  to  receive  special  instruction  in  judging 
2  F 


434  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 

at  the  National  Dairy  Show  in  Springfield.  Some  objection  was  raised  to  my 
competing  against  the  ninety-seven  bo3's  representing  the  ten  North  Eastern 
States  in  the  dairy-Judging  contest.  The  Essex  County  and  ^Massachusetts 
state  officials  made  such  a  vigorous  protest  that  I  was  finally  allowed  to  com- 
pete. I  won  second  prize,  and  chose  a  bull  calf,  "  Sophie  iQth's  Tormentor 
loth,"  a  grandson  of  "  Sophie  igth"  of  Hood  Farm,  the  world's  champion 
long-distance  butter  cow.  The  first  six  of  his  brothers  sold  for  an  average 
price  of  S502,  while  one  brother  brought  S4000. 

The  writer  of  the  foregoing  account  is  shown  above  in  Fig.  193. 

D.  Reports  for  the  "  educational  manager."  —  Your  state  or  fed- 
eral supervisor  of  vocational  agricultural  education  may  at  any  mo- 
ment decide  to  test  your  knowledge  of  the  spirit  and  mental  attitude 
of  your  pupils,  of  their  home  conditions,  and  of  details  of  their  battle 
for  agricultural  betterment. 

The  general  rules  in  state-aided  vocational  education  in  Massachu- 
setts require  that  in  all  schools  of  over  fifty  pupils  there  shall  be  estab- 
lished a  "  function  "  of  some  member  of  the  faculty,  the  purpose  of 
which  shall  be  to  promote  efficient  instruction,  to  follow  the  educational 
and  trade  progress  of  each  pupil,  and  to  prescribe  special  work  for  in- 
dividual pupils  as  their  needs  may  require.  In  191 7  there  were  167 
boys  in  the  Essex  County  Agricultural  School,  and  Mr.  Dexter  E. 
Coggeshall  was  designated  the  '•'  Educational  Manager  "  \nth  the 
foregoing  "  function." 

The  author,  as  state  supervisor,  to  test  Mr.  Coggeshall's  intimate 
knowledge  of  individual  pupils,  asked  him  for  brief  reports  on  the  four 
boys  mentioned  in  the  three  reports  which  follow.  It  wih  be  e\ddent 
that  immediate  response  would  have  been  impossible  in  the  absence 
of  detailed  and  reasonably  complete  records.  It  should  be  stated  that 
Mr.  Coggeshall  is  the  teacher  of  English  and  economics  for  whom  the 
foregoing  account  by  Miss  Ruth  Wood  was  prepared. 

The  Story  of  the  Partnership  of  Joh.\nson  and  Bloom 

Mr.  Johanson,  the  father  of  one  of  the  boys  in  this  story,  wanted  to  get 
his  son  off  the  streets  of  Lynn  during  the  long  summer  vacation.  Accordingly, 
he  proposed  to  his  boy  and  to  his  boy's  playmate  that  they  have  a  garden 
together.  He  hired  land  for  them,  —  about  8000  square  feet.  The  boys 
were  in  the  7th  grade  of  the  grammar  school  at  this  time.     They  did  not 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  AGRICULTURAL  INSTRUCTORS  435 

relish  the  idea  of  giving  up  their  play  to  '  cuff  '  in  a  garden.  However,  they 
managed  to  grow  a  fair  crop  of  corn  and  beans.  Mr.  Johanson  felt  that  the 
boys  had  had  a  more  profitable  summer  than  they  would  have  had  on  the 
streets  of  Lj'nn. 

The  next  summer,  when  they  had  finished  the  8th  grade,  they  added  1500 
square  feet  to  their  garden,  and  grew  corn  and  beans  as  before.  By  this  time 
they  had  become  interested  in  their  project. 

It  was  at  the  end  of  this  summer's  work  that  they  first  heard  of  an  agricul- 
tural school  in  their  own  county.  They  investigated,  and  found  that  it  was 
open  to  them;  so  they  talked  it  over  with  their  parents  and  decided  that 
they  would  try  to  get  into  this  school  at  the  end  of  their  grammar  school 
course. 

When  they  graduated  from  the  grammar  school  they  had  fully  determined 
to  go  to  the  County  .\gricultural  School,  and  to  carry  on  a  larger  garden,  — 
one  that  would  occupy  most  of  their  time.  This  year's  garden  had  peas, 
potatoes,  cucumbers,  as  well  as  corn  and  beans.  They  had  more  than  enough 
for  home  use,  so  they  sold  to  neighbors. 

In  the  fall  they  entered  the  County  Agricultural  School.  They  studied 
Vegetable  Gardening,  P'arm  Accounting,  English,  and  General  Science.  To 
their  surprise,  they  learned  that  they  really  did  not  know  much  about  garden- 
ing, even  with  their  three  summers  of  experience.  Their  interest  in  the 
study  of  vegetable  gardening  was  most  keen ;  in  fact,  they  had  never  be- 
fore studied  anything  with  such  enthusiasm.  In  the  winter  months  they 
planned  their  summer's  project.  This  garden  was  to  be  much  different 
from  the  former  gardens;  for  they  had  learned  something  of  companion 
cropping  and  succession  cropping.  Also,  they  had  learned  the  value  of  a 
dust  mulch. 

The  investment  in  this  garden  was  $150,  and  their  gross  income  was  $457. 
This  is  how  they  did  it :  First,  they  planted  spinach  and  early  peas.  They 
harvested  50  bushels  of  spinach  and  20  bushels  of  peas.  In  the  meantime, 
they  had  started  lettuce  in  hotbeds.  Next,  where  they  had  harvested  the 
spinach,  they  put  in  beets  and  turnips,  with  lettuce  between  the  rows.  Where 
they  had  planted  the  peas  they  now  planted  celery,  with  lettuce  between  the 
rows.  They  also  planted  potatoes  on  the  newer  part  of  their  garden.  These 
boys  both  smile  when  they  compare  this  project  with  their  former  gardening 
efforts.  Needless  to  say,  they  have  both  decided  to  take  up  farming  as  a 
vocation. 

Wise  Mr.  Johanson  believes  that  his  idea  of  substituting  gardening  in 
the  summer  for  playing  on  city  streets  with  large  groups  of  boys  was  a 
good  one. 

These  are  the  two  boys  whose  partnership  project  and  earnings 
report  for  191 7  are  shown  in  Figures  142  to  145. 


436  VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


The  Story  of  Dequoy's  Projects 

DeQuoy  was  fifteen  j-ears  of  age  when  this  story  begins.  He  had  studied 
two  years  at  the  Haverhill  High  School  with  poor  results.  He  was  not  inter- 
ested. In  the  fall  of  1913  he  heard  of  the  County  Agricultural  School.  He 
had  never  been  interested  in  Agriculture,  but  he  decided  to  enter  and  to  find 
out,  as  he  says,  "  If  there  was  anything  in  it."  His  mother  owned  and  oper- 
ated, in  a  small  way,  a  farm  of  about  seven  acres  of  land.  This  boy  has  now 
carried  three  successful  projects.  We  will  now  see  what  those  projects  were 
like. 

I  asked  DeQuoy  to  write  me  of  his  first  year's  project,  and  this  is  what  he 
wrote  :  "  As  I  had  land  at  home,  I  planned  to  have  my  garden  there.  I 
planted  tomatoes  in  the  house  the  middle  of  February,  and  cabbage  for  plants 
in  the  hotbed  in  March.  I  built  the  hotbed  from  old  lumber  and  storm  sash. 
From  the  cabbage  plants  alone,  I  made  about  ten  dollars.  I  also  set  a  few  in 
my  garden.  I  had  my  garden  plowed  in  the  middle  of  April.  It  was  only 
ninety  feet  long  and  fifty  wide,  but  to  me  it  seemed  a  big  farm.  I  spaded  it 
over  after  plowing  and  put  in  the  early  peas.  Then  other  vegetables  were 
planted  in  season  and  all  sorts  of  companion  and  succession  schemes  were  used 
to  keep  every  bit  of  land  working  every  minute.  On  the  whole  garden,  I 
made  about  fifteen  dollars  over  and  above  labor  and  other  expenses." 

He  exhibited  some  of  the  products  of  his  garden  at  the  County  Fair  and 
won  a  first  and  three  seconds. 

It  was  during  this  first  project  season  that  he  did  the  thing  that  was  to 
win  his  interest  in  Agriculture,  and  to  settle  his  life's  work.  He  bought  two 
sittings  of  Single  Comb  White  Leghorn  eggs. 

His  second  year's  farm  work  was  varied  in  its  nature.  He  had  three  dis- 
tinct projects.  First,  he  set  out  500  strawberry  plants  and  100  raspberry 
plants.  Second,  he  bought  a  pair  of  Ohio  Improved  Chester  pigs.  At  six 
months  of  age  these  pigs  dressed  165  lb.  apiece.  The  pigs  were  entered  in 
the  pig  club,  and  he  won  a  premium  because  of  their  daily  gain  in  weight. 
They  made  an  average  gain  of  one  pound  a  day.  Third,  he  raised  200  White 
Leghorn  Pullets  from  the  nine  pullets  of  the  previous  year.  The  nine  pullets 
won  him  the  third  prize  in  the  Poultry  Club.  They  averaged  six  and  one-half 
eggs  a  day  during  the  contest. 

DeQuoy  now  decided  that  his  real  interest  was  in  the  poultry  business,  so 
he  carefully  selected  the  best  of  his  200  pullets  as  breeders  for  his  next  season's 
project. 

The  third  year's  project  was  a  pronounced  success.  The  first  hatch  came 
off  March  first,  and  from  then  until  July  his  two  incubators  were  constantly 
running.  Eighteen  hundred  eggs  were  set,  twelve  hundred  chicks  were 
hatched.  He  sold  six  hundred  baby  chicks,  and  raised  to  maturity  five 
hundred  and  ninety-five  of  the  remaining  six  hundred. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO   AGRICULTURAL   INSTRUCTORS  437 

Again,  this  year,  he  entered  twelve  of  his  Leghorn  Pullets.  These  birds 
made  a  daily  average  of  9^  eggs  for  the  entire  length  of  the  contest.  These 
twelve  pullets  earned  DeQuoy  $33.00  net  profit  during  the  contest.  They 
won  for  him  the  first  prize  in  the  Poultry  Club,  and  helped  him  to  win  one  of 
the  Bauer  prizes  in  the  County  Agricultural  School.  In  fact,  every  one  who 
saw  this  boy's  project  marveled  at  his  success ;  for,  to  speak  truly,  his  work 
was  done  with  little  capital,  and  under  adverse  conditions.  His  income  from 
his  poultry  projects  for  this,  his  third  .\gricultural  School  year  was  $218.61 
paid  himself  for  labor  and  $333.16  net  profit,  or  a  total  of  $551.77-" 

This  boy  in  his  fourth  year  has  been  employed  on  an  approved 
substitute  for  a  project,  as  a  helper  in  the  Poultry  Department  of  the 
Essex  County  Agricultural  School. 

The  Story  of  Eastwood's  Agricultural  Interest 

Eastwood  went  one  year  to  the  high  school.  On  the  completion  of  this 
first  year  high  school  work,  he  told  his  parents  that  he  wanted  to  be  a  farmer. 
His  father  was  somewhat  surprised  but  he  decided  to  try  his  son  out.  He 
hired  an  acre  of  land  and  set  the  boy  to  work.  The  garden  was  a  complete 
success,  and  Mr.  Eastwood  was  convinced  that  his  son  should  be  given  an 
opportunity  to  get  an  agricultural  education.  It  was  then  decided  to  send  the 
boy  to  the  County  Agricultural  School. 

.\t  the  county  school  he  was  obliged  to  csLvry  an  agricultural  project  each 
year.  We  will  now  see  what  each  year's  project  was  like.  His  first  year's 
project  was  carried  on  at  the  school  farm.  He  had  a  half  acre  vegetable  gar- 
den and  one  Berkshire  pig.  When  he  was  not  working  on  his  own  project,  he 
worked  on  the  school  farm  at  general  farm  work.  His  accounts  of  this,  his 
first  project,  were  particularly  good. 

This  young  man's  second  year  of  farm  work  was  what  we  call  a  substitute 
for  a  project ;  that  is,  he  worked  on  a  general  farm  that  belonged  to  a  gentle- 
man in  Peabody,  Massachusetts  —  Brooksby  Farm.  On  this  farm  he  cared 
for  thirty  pigs,  ten  cows,  and  about  three  acres  of  fruit.  He  cost-accounted 
the  pigs  and  the  cows.  Again,  his  accounting  was  most  praiseworthy.  Also, 
he  won  first  prize  in  stock  judging  at  the  County  Fair. 

Eastwood's  third  year  of  farm  work  was  also  a  substitute  for  a  project. 
This  was  the  management  of  a  twenty-acre  farm  belonging  to  a  Haverhill 
business  man.  The  work  was  done  entirely  by  Eastwood,  with  the  help  of  a 
small  boy  working  part  time.  Eastwood  worked  from  early  morning  until 
about  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening.  .A-fter  seven  o'clock  he  worked  on  his 
accounts.  His  work  on  this  place  won  him  what  is  known  as  the  Bauer  prize 
—  $20.00  in  gold.  Following  is  a  brief  description  of  the  project  :  It  con- 
sisted of  the  care  of  three  cows  and  one  heifer;    two  pigs;    one  hundred  and 


438  VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 

fifty  hens ;  the  raising  of  three  hundred  chicks ;  ten  acres  of  field  crops ;  one- 
half  acre  of  small  fruit;  one-half  acre  of  large  fruit;  five  acres  of  vegetables. 
The  noticeable  features  of  his  work  were  the  changing  of  the  rations  for  the 
cows,  pigs,  and  poultry,  so  that  greater  production  was  experienced ;  also, 
more  frequent  cultivation  of  the  soil,  which  resulted  in  a  yield  of  one  hundred 
twenty-five  bushels  of  potatoes  on  a  half  acre  of  land. 

Let  us  now  look  at  his  accounts.  These  accounts  show  the  net  income  for 
each  department  on  the  farm.  The  total  shows  the  amount  of  money  he  earned 
for  the  owner  from  May  the  sixth  to  November  first,  namely,  $898.32. 

Receipts 

Poultry $507.27 

Dairy . 417-89 

Garden 282.79 

Field  crops 472.20 

Swine        S3-oo 

Large  fruit 55-^3 

Small  fruit 57.48 

Horse 93-i4 

Bees 21.50 

Gross  receipts $1,960.40 

Expenses 

Poultry $    297.88 

Dairy 236.13 

Garden 165.76 

Field  crops 162.79 

Swine 48.89 

Large  fruit 11.63 

Small  fruit 31.44 

Horse        83.84 

Bees 23.72 

Total  expenses $1,062.08 

Gross  receipts $1,960.40 

Total  expenses 1,062.08 

Profit        $    898.32 

His  fourth  year  finds  him  back  on  the  farm  at  Haverhill.  He  now  has  four 
cows,  three  heifers,  and  a  large  beekeeping  project.  He  says  that  he  will 
practice  more  intensive  cultivation  this  year,  and  that  he  will  keep  a  better 
set  of  books. 

He  plans  to  go  to  the  Agricultural  College  in  the  fall.  His  father  says  that 
he  believes  the  boy  really  wants  to  be  a  farmer. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO   AGRICULTURAL  INSTRUCTORS  439 

This  boy's  employer  was  well  pleased  with  his  second  year  of  work. 
He  is  now  enrolled  for  a  year  or  two  of  further  education  in  the  tech- 
nical and  most  practical  courses  at  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural 
College. 

E.  Reports  for  the  state  supervisor.  —  It  may  more  than  once 
happen  that  the  state  supervisor  will  wish  to  go  straight  across  to  a 
boy  for  a  test  of  his  ab'lity  to  make  a  report  in  writing.  Following 
is  a  report  to  the  author  as  state  supervisor  made  by  a  vocational 
agricultural  pupil  who  finished  his  four  years  course  in  1916,  but  who 
continued  his  projects  in  191 7  in  connection  with  taking  supplementary 
high  school  studies  in  preparation  for  further  training  at  an  agricul- 
tural college. 

My  Success  with  Vocational  Agriculture 

In  the  fall  of  191 2  my  father  bought  me  15  hens.  I  kept  them  in  the  base- 
ment of  the  barn.  The  next  spring  I  had  saved  money  enough  to  buy  100 
eggs  for  hatching.  I  had  sixty  chickens  and  raised  them  all;  I  had  ^s  good 
pullets  out  of  the  flock.  They  laid  well,  making  an  average  per  hen  of  198 
eggs  for  the  year. 

The  next  spring  and  summer  I  had  a  hundred  pullets  hatched,  and  built 
two  houses.  I  continued  to  hatch  more  chicks  each  year  and  build  more 
houses.  I  sold  2400  hatching  eggs  in  1915,  2600  in  1916,  and  2451  in  1917. 
I  have  been  well  patronized  by  the  State  Sanatorium  at  R.  I.  for  the  last  two 
seasons.  In  1915  I  received  an  order  for  1500  hatching  eggs  from  them. 
The  order  was  filled.  Last  spring  they  asked  me  to  bid  on  an  order  for  11 70 
eggs  and  iioo  chicks.  I  did  so  and  received  the  order  for  11 70  eggs.  Last  fall 
when  my  hens  were  in  their  winter  quarters  I  had  291  hens  and  pullets,  and 
15  Tom  Barron  cockerels. 

Every  summer  for  the  past  four  years  I  have  been  doing  considerable  gar- 
dening.    I  have  had  two  to  three  acres  of  land  under  cultivation. 

The  fall  of  1915  I  bought  two  acres  of  wood  land,  had  it  cleared  and  set  apple 
and  peach  trees  in  the  place  of  the  pines.  At  present  I  have  over  two-hundred 
apple,  peach,  and  pear  trees,  also  281  raspberry  and  35  blackberry  bushes. 

For  two  years  I  kept  a  cow.  I  bought  the  cow  for  $40.  During  the  two 
years  I  cleared  $232.06  above  cost  of  feed  and  sold  her  for  beef  for  S40.  I  have 
also  kept  pigs  for  two  years  and  though  having  to  buy  all  the  feed  have  found 
them  profitable. 

I  have  been  in  several  of  the  state  contests,  winning  a  second  in  Poultry 
and  a  third  in  the  Pig  Club.  The  prizes  of  these  were  a  trip  over  New  England 
and  a  week  at  the  Camp  at  .\mherst. 


440  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 

To  sum  up  my  net  earnings  for  the  five  years :  i\Iy  personal  expenses  have 
been  paid  from  the  earnings  of  my  projects.  A  very  promising  season  is 
before  me  with  a  big  flock  of  hens  laying  heavily,  and  a  fine  opportunity  for 
garden  produce.  I  have  at  present,  by  careful  inventory,  in  cash,  real  estate, 
houses  and  equipment  and  stock,  $775.  I  have  prospects  of  clearing  $100 
on  peas  this  season.  At  present  I  am  clearing  $17  a  week  on  my  hens;  and 
putting  it  at  an  average  of  $10  per  week  from  now  to  September  I  shall  have 
$170.  I  am  also  planning  potato  and  bean  crops.  The  total  of  this  figures 
81045.00.  In  September,  191 7,  just  five  years  after  I  made  my  start  at  14 
years  of  age,  I  shall  have  a  balance  on  the  right  side  of  the  account  of  more 
than  $1000.  This  has  been  done  besides  attending  school  two  sessions  a  day 
for  the  entire  five  years. 

I  have  been  admitted  to  the  Ontario  Agricultural  College.  I  shall  enter  next 
fall  for  a  four  year  course. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Ralph  W.  WUliartis. 

You  see  there  is  no  lack  of  definiteness  in  the  data  from  which  such 
a  report  as  this  could  be  immediately  made.  With  such  data  at  hand 
a  report  almost  writes  itself. 

You  see,  also,  that  Ralph's  father  had  given  his  boy  modest  property 
rights.  His  father  told  the  author  that  he  had  not  given  his  boy 
fifteen  dollars  in  the  past  five  years.  Ralph  was  not  disappointed 
in  his  expectations  for  the  summer  of  191 7,  and  entered  the  agricul- 
tural college  of  his  choice  in  the  fall  as  he  had  planned  to  do. 

This  boy's  first  big  egg  order  and  his  photograph  are  shown  above 
in  Fig.  126. 

9.    Keep  in  Touch  with  Graduates 

Check  your  instruction  by  the  success  of  your  graduates  and  of 
your  pupils  who,  for  one  reason  or  another,  were  not  able  to  complete 
their  courses.  You  may  thus  be  able  to  judge  of  the  success  of  your 
efforts  to  restrict  enrollment  in  your  vocational  classes  to  pupils  who 
really  desire  to  follow  careers  of  farming. 

Fig.  14  above  shows  a  chart  prepared  in  1914  for  the  Panama 
Pacific  Exposition  by  Mr.  C.  L.  Pepper,  Agent  for  Industrial  Educa- 
tion in  Massachusetts,  setting  forth  results  of  a  comparison  of  agri- 
cultural pupils  with  those  admitted  to  other  vocational  schools  with 
reference  to  continuance  in  the  industry  for  which  they  had  been 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  AGRICULTURAL  INSTRUCTORS  441 

given  more  or  less  training  in  this  state.  It  will  be  seen  that  the 
comparison  is  strikingly  favorable  to  the  agricultural  schools  and 
departments. 

But  more  interesting  than  percentages  will  be  the  reports  of  their 
achievements  which  your  graduates  will  be  very  willing  to  make  you 
abgut  once  a  year,  if  you  will  take  the  trouble  to  ask  for  them. 

The  sort  of  reports  the  author,  as  state  supervisor,  likes  to  find 
among  the  records  of  instructors  may  be  illustrated  by  the  follo\Ying 
reports  from  Stanley  Bartlett,  who  entered  the  first  state-aided  voca- 
tional agricultural  class  in  Massachusetts  at  the  Smith  School  in 
Northampton  of  which  the  author  at  that  time  was  director,  who 
lived  at  home  throughout  his  course,  and  who  conducted  one  of  the 
first  home  projects  at  a  school  which  sold  its  own  herd  of  cows  in  order 
that  no  time  should  be  lost  thinking  about  school  cows,  and  all  possible 
time  gained  for  work  concentrated  on  the  improvement  of  the  home 
herds  of  its  pupils. 

Stanley  did  fair  work  in  his  various  courses,  but  some  of  the  courses 
did  not  interest  him  and  found  him  more  or  less  indifferent.  He  may 
be  seen  above  in  Fig.  106,  the  first  of  the  boys  from  left  to  right 
in  the  center.  It  is  evident  that  he  was  not  so  much  interested  in 
beekeeping  as  were  other  members  of  the  class.  His  strong  work 
began  when  he  came  to  the  study  of  dairying.  He  began  to  show  his 
pride  and  real  mettle  when  week  after  week  one  of  his  father's  cows 
headed  the  list  on  the  blackboard  with  the  highest  percentage  of 
butter-fat  among  the  cows  represented  in  the  class. 

Stanley  Bartlett's  father  gave  him  the  right  kind  of  support.  When 
asked  if  he  could  get  permission  to  feed  one  cow  at  home  a  balanced 
ration,  he  came  back  with  his  father's  reply,  "  Better  not  feed  one 
cow.  Better  feed  them  all."  He  kept  the  records  of  the  entire  herd, 
and  knew  the  profit  or  loss  in  the  case  of  each  cow.  And  he  did  every- 
thing possible  to  produce  a  perfectly  sanitary  product. 

His  father  and  an  older  brother  were  able  to  carry  on  the  home  farm 
without  his  help.  He  faced  the  problem,  therefore,  on  graduation, 
of  finding  satisfactory  employment  elsewhere.  The  reports  from  him 
which  follow  will  speak  for  themselves  as  to  his  education  for  farming 
and  his  satisfaction  and  progress  in  his  chosen  career. 


442 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


In  February,  1915,  he  wrote  from  the  Sanatorium  of  the  Metro- 
politan Life  Insurance  Co.,  Wilton,  N.  Y. : 

It  was  through  Director  Loomis  of  the  Smith  School  that  I  secured  a 
position  at  Hood  Farm.  I  took  up  my  work  there  on  July  i,  191 2.  My  first 
work  for  six  weeks  was  taking  care  of  40  cows  and  milking  15.  After  this  time, 
I  was  changed  to  fitting  cattle  for  auction.  On  Sept.  7th,  I  left  Hood  Farm 
with  a  partner  and  40  head  of  sale  cattle  for  the  Dairy  Cattle  Congress, 
Waterloo,  Iowa,  and  the  Hood  Farm,  Shoemaker,  auction  sale.  When  the 
auction  and  show  were  over,  I  came  back  to  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  with  a  few 


Fig.  305.  —  Eight  Sophie's  Tormentor  cows.  Owned  by  Hood  Farm,  Lowell,  Mass.  Aver- 
age yearly  records :  14,784  lb.  8  oz.,  of  milk ;  895  lb.  2  oz.  of  butter.  Stanley  Bartlett,  a 
Smith  School  graduate,  was  proud  to  be  working  with  such  animals.     See  next  page. 

show  cattle  to  the  International  Dairy  Show.  When  this  show  was  over.  I 
came  back  to  Lowell  with  the  show  cattle  after  being  gone  one  month  from  the 
farm.  This  month  gave  me  a  whole  lot  of  experience  in  the  care,  handling,  and 
showing  of  cattle.  From  that  time  until  January  i,  1913,  I  was  taking  care  of 
the  high  record  cows  and  milking.  The  great  amount  of  practical  experience 
I  had  gained  thus  far  through  Mr.  Dodge  just  gave  me  the  right  start,  so  I 
then  took  the  ten  weeks'  course  at  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College  in 
dairying  and  allied  subjects. 

When  I  finished  my  course  at  M.  A.  C,  I  accepted  a  position  as  herdsman 
and  dairyman  on  the  farm  of  H.  A.  Moses  at  Woronoake  Heights.     The  herd 


C.  Stanley  Bartlett. 


i  I       i  :  home  and  cows  that  were  in  his  home  project. 


Fig.  306.  —  His  present  place  ol  employment  in  charge  of  more  than  100  head  ol  Ayrshire 
cattle  and  an  equal  number  of  pure-bred  Berkshire  swine.  See,  also,  Fig.  305,  and  his 
reports  on  pages  442-446.  Stanley  Bartlett  was  one  of  the  first  boys  to  conduct  a  home 
project. 

443 


444  VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION  _ 

consisted  of  50  head  of  Ayrshires.  I  had  two  men  under  mj-  direction.  This 
was  a  very  sanitary,  modern  dairy  barn  with  cement  floors  and  walls  and 
equipped  with  litter  carriers.  In  April  of  1914  I  decided  to  take  the  position 
as  assistant  herdsman  which  Mr.  Dodge  had  offered  me  at  Hood  Farm.  I 
took  up  my  work  there  on  May  11,  19 14.  The  herd  consisted  of  200  head  of 
the  very  highest  class  of  Jerseys  in  the  world.  I  had  9  and  10  men  under  my 
direction  at  that  time.  Along  in  August,  I  started  out  with  a  partner  and  20 
head  of  show  cattle.  I  went  out  to  the  Forest  City  Fair  near  Cleveland,  Ohio ; 
then  came  back  to  New  York  State  Fair  at  Syracuse ;  and  then  to  the 
Worcester  Fair  at  Worcester,  Mass.  We  got  back  to  Lowell  about  the 
middle  of  Sept. 

The  highest  price  at  which  a  Hood  Farm  cow  has  sold  is  $3500.00. 

The  highest  price  at  which  one  has  sold  that  I  have  fitted  for  sale  is  $1500.00. 

The  highest  record  made  by  a  Hood  Farm  cow  which  I  have  cared  for  is  a 
senior  three  year  old  record  of  17,793  lbs.  8  ozs.  of  milk  and  107 1  lbs.  4  ozs. 
of  butter. 

The  Hood  Farm  doesn't  keep  any  imported  Jerseys.  They  are  all  of  their 
own  breeding. 

I  had  about  20  head  of  pure-bred  Jerseys  at  home.  My  best  record  at 
home  (on  one  cow)  was  a  profit  of  $54.26  in  7  months. 

It  was  through  Mr.  Dodge  that  I  secured  this  position  which  I  took  on 
October  20,  1914.  This  is  the  most  modern,  most  sanitary,  and  finest  set  of 
farm  buildings  in  the  country,  I  believe.  I  have  full  charge  of  barns,  cattle,  and 
dairy.  The  stock  consists  of  30  cows,  one  bull,  and  nine  calves,  all  Ayrshires. 
I  am  making  450  quarts  of  milk  from  the  30  cows.  All  of  this  milk  is  used  at 
the  Sanatorium.  As  the  Sanatorium  grows,  the  dairy  will  have  to  grow,  so  I 
expect  to  have  100  head  of  cattle.     I  have  four  men  at  present. 

Now  my  wages  the  first  year  at  the  Hood  Farm  were  $30.00  per  month, 
board  and  room.  When  I  started  work  at  Woronoake  Heights,  I  got  $35.00 
per  month  with  board,  room  and  laundry,  but  was  soon  raised  to  $40.  My 
last  year  at  Hood  Farm,  I  got  $40.00  per  month,  board  and  room.  My  wages 
here  are  $900  per  year  and  all  my  expenses. 

In  April,  1916,  he  wrote  again  from  Wilton,  N.  Y. : 

Since  writing  you,  I  have  taken  charge  of  the  herd  of  Berkshire  swine.  I 
have  48  head  beside  the  spring  litters  which  number  32  thus  far  and  I  expect 
that  number  will  double  when  they  have  all  farrowed.  We  keep  nothing  but 
pure-bred  Berkshires.  I  attended  the  meeting  of  the  American  Berkshire 
Congress  which  was  held  in  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  in  February.  Mr.  Dodge 
of  Hood  Farm  sold  a  boar  at  the  Congress  auction  for  $1100. 

My  herd  of  cattle  has  increased  until  I  now  have  65  head  and  am  milking 
42.  These  42  cows  are  making  about  625  qts.  of  milk  per  day  now.  An 
extension  for  40  cows  is  nearly  completed  which  I  expect  to  fill  with  more  cows 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  AGRICULTURAL  INSTRUCTORS  445 

this  summer  and  fall.  Of  all  the  yearly  records,  25  in  number,  or  all  the  cows 
which  have  worked  here  one  year,  I  got  an  average  of  9800  lbs.  per  cow  for 
the  year.  My  best  yearly  record  was  13,000  lbs.  of  milk  from  one  cow. 
Most  of  these  have  freshened  this  spring  and  have  started  out  extremely 
good.     I  now  have  6  men  under  my  charge. 

I  expect  to  get  married  this  coming  June  and  I  will  live  here  on  the  Farm. 
My  salary  has  not  changed  as  yet,  but  I  expect  it  will  when  the  herd  gets  larger. 
I  am  to  have  my  house  rent,  fuel,  vegetables  and  milk  and  cream  with  my 
present  salary  of  $900  per  year.  I  am  very  well  satisfied  with  my  position 
here  and  expect  to  make  it  more  or  less  a  permanent  position. 

His  latest  report  dated  April  9,  1918,  follows : 

My  present  salary  is  $1020  per  year  with  house  rent,  fuel,  milk  and  cream, 
vegetables  and  fruit. 

My  family  has  increased  of  late.  We  have  a  fine  little  girl  born  March  30, 
1918. 

I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I  haven't  taken  a  photograph  since  we  were  married 
but  hope  to  take  some  soon  and  will  gladly  send  any  worth  while  ones  to  you 
which  you  may  use  in  any  way  you  may  want  to. 

The  best  record  completed  here  thus  far  was  finished  on  April  7,  1918. 
The  record  was  made  under  advanced  registry  rules  and  by  "Old  Home  Lilly" 
"  28630,"  namety  16,011  lbs.  milk  and  586.42  lbs.  butter-fat.  All  milk  records  or 
lactation  periods  finished  during  191 7,  numbering  34,  average  8,342.6  lbs.  milk 
and  333.8  lbs.  butterfat.  We  produced  during  the  year  191 7,  123,260  qts.  whole 
milk,  4051^  qts.  heavy  cream  and  35,514  qts.  skim  milk.  Our  herd  of  AjTshires 
consists  of  105  head  at  present,  .\bout  55  of  these  are  pure  breds  and  we  have 
about  58  of  the  105  head  milking  cows.  Our  average  production  is  not  near  as 
high  as  I  would  like,  but  we  need  every  bit  of  milk  I  can  produce  so  that  I  ha\e 
not  culled  the  herd  as  I  should  have  done. 

Our  Berkshires  are  doing  first  rate.  We  dressed  98  hogs  during  191 7  which 
weighed  25,7465  lbs.  We  have  nearly  doubled  our  brood  sows  for  the  coming 
year  and  hope  to  sell  a  lot  of  pure  bred  pigs.  We  are  planning  to  put  our  Berk- 
shire business  on  a  better  basis  this  year  by  mo\'ing  to  a  large  tract  of  light  dry 
ground  and  putting  up  modern,  sanitary  buildings. 

I  now  have  7  men  under  my  charge. 

We  have  a  tractor.  But  of  course  thus  far  I  have  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  outside  farm  work.     My  work  is  exclusively  witii  the  li\e-stock  here. 

Such  records  are  abundant  evidence  that  vocational  agricultural 
education  is  worth  while,  that  it  is  doing  what  it  ought  to  do.  They 
steady  the  instructor  in  hours  of  uncertainty  and  hearten  him  in 
moments  of  discouragement.     They  show  that  pupils,  though  not 


446  VOCATIONAL -AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

always  equally  interested  and  successful  in  everything  covered  by  a 
course,  are  pretty  certain  to  discover  their  special  bents  and  develop 
unusual  skill  in  certain  directions.  Best  of  all,  perhaps,  is  the  effect 
of  such  records  of  modest,  but  gradual  and  steadily  growing  achieve- 
ment, upon  pupils  still  in  school.  Pictures  of  Stanley  Bartlett's  home 
farm  and  herd,  of  Hood  Farm  cows  with  which  he  worked,  and  of  a 
barn  at  his  present  place  of  employment  may  be  seen  in  Figs.  305 
and  306,  on  pages  442  and  443. 

10.   Help  Educate  Gentlemen  of  the  Old  School  and  Farmers  of 

the  New 

As  a  sort  of  resume  of  certain  factors  important  for  the  success  of 
vocational  agricultural  education,  and  as  an  aid  to  keeping  educational 
sympathies  and  efforts  in  desirable  balance  and  perspective,  the  author 
ventures  to  offer  these  concluding  suggestions. 

(i)  Help  train  farmers  of  the  new  school.  —  Spare  no  pains  in  efforts 
to  work  with  agricultural  educators  and  with  farmers  in  your  efforts 
to  give  boys  adequate  training  for  farming  careers.  Suggestions  in 
the  foregoing  chapter  may  be  of  some  assistance  to  you,  if  you  are  at 
all  at  a  loss  as  to  ways  and  means  of  close  cooperation. 

Do  not  try  to  do  the  whole  job  yourself. 

Persuade  farmers  to  participate  in  your  teaching  program.  In- 
vite them  to  visit  projects  and  to  examine  pupils. 

By  assisting  the  farm  bureau,  or  the  grange,  or  any  other  board  or 
organization  whose  duty  it  is  to  promote  agriculture,  in  arranging 
for  field  meetings  and  demonstrations  on  farms,  help  farmers  to  teach 
each  other. 

By  arranging  field  trips  and  trips  to  their  home  farms,  and  by 
encouraging  boys  to  take  at  least  short  courses  at  the  agricul- 
tural college,  help  to  bring  other  agricultural  educators  and  your 
pupils  together ;  and  help  your  pupils  to  teach  each  other,  by 
showing  each  other  what  they  have  learned,  discovered,  or  been  able 
to  do. 

Assist  the  College  Extension  Service  and  the  Farm  Bureau  in  plan- 
ning and  giving  dull-season,  short  courses  for  farmers  and  for  others 
who  have  land  or  live-stock  which  they  desire  to  make  contribute  to 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  AGRICULTURAL  INSTRUCTORS  447 

their  support;  and  help  those  who  take  such  short  courses  to  get 
lasting  benefit  from  them,  by  systematic,  but  not  meddlesome,  visita- 
tion throughout  the  producing  season. 

Remember  the  boy  that  needs  a  friend.  Be  particularly  careful  to 
help  boys  who  may  not  be  able  to  attend  school  full-time,  but  who,  on 
your  invitation,  and  with  your  cordial  encouragement,  may  be  able  to 
attend  your  classes  part-time  and  to  conduct  projects  of  considerable 
educational  and  economic  importance  under  your  patient  and  pains- 
taking supervision.  Let  them  drop  in  for  study,  or  for  advice,  rainy 
days,  or  at  any  other  time  they  may  find  convenient.  Bear  in  mind 
that,  in  any  case,  the  best  teacher  is  the  man  who  knows  his  subject, 
but  lets  his  pupils  do  the  work.  The  project  plan  will  enable  you  to 
set  any  boy  at  work  at  any  time. 

Serve  as  local  leader  of  agricultural  club-work.  Thus  you  may 
come  to  know  most  of  the  children  in  your  locahty,  —  and  they  may 
come  to  know  you.  Pay  particular  attention  to  boys  twelve  and  thir- 
teen years  old.  Though  instruction  in  your  classes  must  be  suited 
to  the  needs  of  boys  over  fourteen  years  of  age,  there  is  nothing  magical 
about  the  fourteenth  birthday.  There  are  boys  of  fifteen  and  sixteen 
who  are  but  thirteen  and  twelve  in  all  physical,  mental  and  moral 
essentials  to  education;  and  vice  versa.  From  your  work  with  men, 
you  will  know  how  older  boys  look  at  things.  Since,  under  normal 
conditions,  your  work  will  usually  begin  with  the  boy  who  is  fourteen, 
it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  you  should  know  how  boys  of  about 
that  age  look  at  things  and  can  best  be  taught.  Previous  work  with 
a  boy  in  out-of-school  hours  in  club  activities  will  help  to  prepare  you 
for  efficient  work  with  him  afterwards  in  agricultural  education  in 
school  hours.  Moreover,  leading  agricultural  club-work  will  help  you 
to  admit  pupils  to  your  classes  with  better  judgment  as  to  their 
natural  aptitudes  for  farming  careers. 

All  of  the  foregoing  should  help  you  to  measure  up  to  the  require- 
ments and  opportunities  of  the  vocational  instructor,  as  an  agricultural 
"  trouble-man  "  for  the  adults  in  his  community,  as  a  "  big  brother  " 
to  boys  out  of  school,  and  as  an  educator  of  boys  in  classes  to  become 
farmers,  alert,  capable,  progressive.  And  in  all  of  this,  you  may  gain 
an  enviable  reputation  as  a  man  upon  whom  all,  who  are  in  any  way 


443  VOCATION.\L   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 

interested  in  better  farming,  can  depend  as  a  cooperator,  a  program 
maker,  and,  in  the  best  sense  of  that  term,  a  promoter. 

(2)  Help  educate  "gentlemen  of  the  old  school."  —  But  do  not 
let  your  influence  stop  here. 

Do  not  become  a  narrow-minded  crank.  There  is  danger,  for  it  is 
hard  to  determine  just  where  the  enthusiast  stops  and  crank  begins. 
We  admire  the  former,  and  like  to  work  with  him ;  we  abominate,  or 
laugh  at,  the  latter,  and  try  to  avoid  him. 

Do  not  permit  "  old  home  week  "  to  be  chiefly  a  matter  of  roast 
chicken  or  roast  pork  and  plum  pudding,  of  pumpkin  pie  and  big 
apples,  yellow  or  green  or  russet  or  red  ;  and  of  agricultural  exhibits. 
Help  with  all  this.  But  remember  the  village  improvement  club. 
Rake  and  remove  your  share  of  the  litter,  and  hang  your  share  of  the 
decorations. 

When  you  are  showing  your  classroom,  do  not  fail  to  show  the  rest 
of  the  school  and  have  a  worthy  word  for  its  all  around  good  work. 

Encourage  your  boys  not  to  neglect  the  opportunities  for  general 
education  provided  for  in  such  complete  programs  for  both  schools  and 
departments  as  those  discussed  in  Chapter  \T,  and  shown  in  Figs. 
188  and  189.  Impress  upon  them  the  values  of  education  for 
better  farming,  but  equally  urge  the  values  it  may  have  for 
better  living.  Avail  yourself  in  this  of  such  aids  as  those  shown  in 
Figs.  6,  7,  and  8. 

Remember  the  community  center  recreational  activities  which  are, 
or  ought  to  be,  contributing  to  the  public  welfare  of  the  locality  you 
serve.  All  work  and  no  play  makes  the  community  a  dull  community. 
Be  a  pioneer,  if  necessary,  in  efforts  to  bring  the  whole  community 
together,  the  past  and  the  present  together.  Music,  pageants,  and 
games,  —  all  manner  of  wholesome  and  whole-souled  recreation,  — 
should  have  your  help  and  that  of  your  pupils.  Figures  281  to  287 
show  a  few  examples  of  kinds  of  recreation  in  which  vocational 
agricultural  instructors  and  pupils  have  participated  with  very  great 
profit. 

Remember  the  public  library,  the  hospital,  and  the  church. 

Try  to  forget,  and  to  permit  your  pupils  to  forget,  no  worthy  cause 
Be  no  more  a  rural  economist  than  vou  are  an  economist.     Be  a  sociol- 


SUGGESTIONS   TO   AGRICULTURAL  INSTRUCTORS  449 

ogist,  not  merely  a  rural  sociologist.  Your  first  responsibility,  as 
a  specialist,  is  for  education  in  arts  that  are  practical.  But  have  a 
place  in  your  life  for  the  arts  that  are  liberal.  As  the  years  pass, 
be  better  and  better  able,  in  the  happy  phrase  of  a  recent  writer,^ 
"  to  see  life  steadily  and  see  it  whole."  In  a  word,  be  a  helper  of 
all  that  is  best  in  human  welfare  and  progress. 

Strong  and  gentle  spirits,  the  poet  and  the  philosopher,  the  states- 
man and  the  man  of  affairs,  have  sung  and  otherwise  happily  expressed 
their  appreciation  of  agriculture  as  a  fundamental  occupation  and  of 
farming  as  a  delightful  mode  of  living.  Farmers  have  not  so  often 
nor  so  happily  voiced  their  appreciation  of  other  fundamental  occupa- 
tions and  of  the  graces  and  refinements  of  other  modes  of  living. 
What  is  needed  to-day,  as  never  before,  are  not  less  diversity  of  talents 
and  training,  but  more  unity  of  spirit,  greater  community  of  under- 
standing, more  joining  of  hands  in  common  causes. 

We  have  inherited  an  expression  which  we  somehow  cling  to  as 
precious,  namely,  "  gentleman  of  the  old  school."  A  farmer  to  whom 
we  might  apply  it  would  be  no  less  successful  than  the  most  progressive 
of  his  fellows.  The  term  rings  of  prosperity.  But  it  savors  nothing 
of  the  narrow,  nor  of  the  envious,  nor  of  the  uncouth.  It  savors  of  a 
spirit  of  broad,  human  understanding,  of  sympathy  at  once  gentle 
and  strong.  Education  is  a  Ufe-long  enterprise.  Covet  for  your 
boys  such  balance  and  perspective  and  such  a  quality  in  their  educa- 
tion, both  durir^g  the  periods  of  their  formal  schooUng  and  in  after 
years,  that,  proudly  and  affectionately,  it  may  be  said  of  them,  "  They 
are  gentlemen  of  the  old  school." 

•  Mr.  David  A.  Pottiiiger  in  Harvard  Alumni  Bullelin  for  Feb.  6,  igig,  page  370. 


2G 


45° 


VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 


CHAPTER   IX 

THE   NEW  EDUCATION! 

MAKING   FARMERS 

Editorial  Correspondence  by  Lyman  Abbott 

Last  March  I  met  at  Hampton  Institute  a  delegation  of  educational 
experts  who  had  been  selected  by  the  Rockefeller  Foundation  to  study 
the  methods  of  what  is  probably  the  most  efficient  vocational  school 
in  the  United  States,  if  not  in  the  world,  and  report  on  them.  The 
immediate  object  of  this  investigation  was  to  get  at  the  truth ;  but  its 
ultimate  object,  I  do  not  doubt,  was  to  get  the  advantage  of  this  truth 
in  promoting  a  better  tx^pe  of  vocational  training  throughout  the 
United  States.  Among  this  delegation  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  fall 
in  with  Mr.  Rufus  W.  Stimson,  one  of  the  educational  inspectors  of 
the  State  of  Massachusetts  especially  intrusted  with  the  supervision 
of  the  agricultural  schools  of  that  state.  I  very  gladly  accepted  an 
invitation  from  him  to  take,  under  his  guidance  and  direction,  a  four 
days'  automobile  trip  through  the  state,  visiting  some  of  those  agri- 
cultural schools. 

There  is  in  ^Massachusetts  an  agricultural  college,  situated  at 
Amherst.  Like  other  similar  colleges,  it  is  not  exclusively  agri- 
cultural. In  addition  to  such  practical  courses  as  dairying,  farm 
management,  market  gardening,  poultry  husbandry,  and  the  like, 
it  also  furnishes  scientific  instruction  in  cognate  branches,  including 
not  only  botany,  general  and  agricultural  chemistry,  and  microbiology, 
but  also  such  subjects  as  modern  languages,  rural  sociology,  and  civil 
engineering.  The  practical  tendency  in  education  in  our  time  is  in- 
dicated by  the  fact  that  in  the  last  ten  years  the  enrollment  of  stu- 
dents of  college  grade  has  increased  from  219  to  680. 

1  Reprinted  with  Dr.  Abbott's  permission  from  The  Outlook,  July  25,  1917,  pp.  473-475- 

451 


452  VOCATION.\L  AGRICULTUR.\L  EDUCATION 

There  are  also  four  agricultural  secondary  schools  devoted  wholly 
to  agriculture  and  cognate  arts,  including  the  art  of  home-making, 
which,  in  spite  of  the  scorn  of  some  pseudo-reformers,  I  hold  to  be  the 
most  fundamental  and  the  most  important  of  all  our  arts.  One  of 
these  agricultural  schools  is  endowed;  the  others  have  been  estab- 
lished under  permissive  laws  of  the  state  by  the  counties  in  which 
they  are  severally  situated. 

There  are  fourteen  local  high  schools  provided  with  agricultural 
departments  equipped  to  furnish  training  to  such  boys  and  girls  as 
desire  to  take  a  course  to  fit  them  for  practical  farming.  Not  many 
of  the  graduates  of  the  college  become  farmers,  though  they  meet  the 
increasing  demand  for  farm  superintendents,  who  enable  some  gentle- 
men of  wealth  to  play  at  farming,  an  expensive  and  losing  game  when 
conducted  by  those  ignorant  of  the  science  of  agriculture,  and  other 
gentlemen  to  combine  their  money  with  the  intelligence  of  their  super- 
intendents in  a  quasi-partnership  which  gives  the  farm  what  all  large 
farms  need,  both  adequate  capital  and  scientific  supervision. 

But  the  agricultural  schools  and  departments  of  the  high  schools 
are  organized  and  conducted  especially  for  the  purpose  of  preparing 
boys  and  girls  to  conduct  farm  industries  of  profit  to  themselves  and 
to  the  community.  In  addition  to  the  fourteen  high  schools  with 
agricultural  departments,  there  are  eight  others  which  hope  to  open  an 
agricultural  course  in  the  fall.  It  is  not  unreasonable  to  anticipate 
that  when  the  scores  of  boys  who  have  enlisted  for  the  summer  in  the 
present  agricultural  campaign  return  to  their  schools  in  the  fall  many 
of  them  will  wish  to  continue  the  work.  I  passed  in  my  trip  one  camp 
of  these  agricultural  soldiers  from  cultured  city  homes.  They  were 
living  in  tents,  and  were  earning  from  one  dollar  and  a  half  to  two  dol- 
lars a  day  from  the  farmers  in  the  neighborhood.  The  success  of  their 
work  had  silenced  the  skeptics,  and  I  was  told  that  another  score  of 
boys  could  find  employment  on  the  same  terms  in  the  same  neighbor- 
hood if  the  boys  could  be  obtained. 

The  most  immediately  striking  feature  of  the  educational  work  in 
the  agricultural  departments  of  these  high  schools  is  its  practical 
character.  The  Board  of  Education  requires  that  each  apphcant 
before  admission  shall  be  visited  at  his  home  by  his  prospective  proj- 


THE  NEW   EDUCATION  453 

ect  teacher,  and  that  a  written  agreement  shall  be  entered  into  by  both 
the  parent  and  the  pupil  by  which  the  pupil  agrees  to  do  his  best  to 
carry  out  the  teacher's  course,  including  project  work,  and  the  parent 
approves  the  pupil's  application  and  promises  his  support  and  co- 
operation, pledging  himself  that  the  pupil  "  shall  have  the  time  and 
land,  equipment  and  supplies,  required  for  properly  carrying  out  his 
home  project  work."  Subsequently  the  project  work  of  the  pupil  is 
more  specifically  defined.  He  agrees,  for  example,  with  the  approval 
of  his  parent  or  guardian,  to  cultivate  a  quarter  of  an  acre  of  vegetable 
garden,  or  an  acre  of  corn,  or  six  rows  of  potatoes,  or  a  dozen  fruit 
trees,  or  to  take  care  of  a  cow  or  a  couple  of  pigs  or  a  score  of  hens. 
I  can  best  illustrate  this  by  reprinting  here  his  project  card  : 


MASSACHUSETTS     BOARD     OF     EDUCATION 

VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  PUPIL'S  EMPLOYMENT 

STATE  INSPECTION  RECORD 

Location  of  A^hfipld  School  Year     j  5^ 

School  or  Depf.  ASflJieiXL  F.nHing  7  M»g    ^^      ^^^      7 

16 


Pupil's  Name Age_ 

Home  Address  Cummington,  Mass.  q^^  ^^.^^^^^  ^^^^^^^^ 

(if  working  out) 

Home  Projects  (Breeds,  Varieties,  Extent,  etc.) cJ- 

I  A.  Mangels  (Norbition  long  red).     3  Dairy  Cows  to  June  1st 


School  Projects     do. 


Other  Farm  Work       Crops—Teaming— Haying— Milking— Horses 

None 


Non-Agricultural  Work 

Project  Work  Instructor  and  Supervisor. 


H.  L.  Whittemore 


(name  of) 


I  have  filled  up  the  blanks  from  an  actual  card  in  my  possession, 
leaving  out  only  the  name  of  the  pupil.  The  teacher  visits  the  pupil 
at  his  home  and  rates  him  according  to  the  skill  and  industry  which  his 
home  project  indicates.  The  condition  and  yielding  of  his  hens  or  his 
corn  or  his  cow  or  his  fruit  trees  constitute  his  weekly  or  bi-weekly 


454  VOCATIONAL   AGRICULTURAL   EDUCATION 

examination,  and  the  pupil  never  knows  when  his  teacher  is  coming. 
The  teacher  is  not  allowed  to  take  more  pupils  than  he  can  visit,  as 
a  rule,  weekly,  at  their  homes,  and  at  least  as  often  as  every  two  weeks. 
The  maximum  number  of  pupils  allowed  to  any  teacher  is  twenty. 

It  is  not  enough  that  the  teacher  possess  a  scientific  knowledge  of 
agriculture.  That  is  perhaps  the  least  important  of  his  qualifications. 
He  must  have  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  farm  and  the  farmer's  hfe ; 
must  be  able  to  see  the  farmer's  problems  as  a  farmer  sees  them ;  must 
have  had  extensive  practical  experience  on  a  farm ;  and  must  have 
tact,  force,  and  a  vital  interest,  not  only  in  raising  crops,  but  in 
raising  boys  and  girls.  Perhaps  the  easiest  way  to  put  this  problem 
before  the  reader  is  to  portray  a  not  wholly  imaginary  case. 

The  Massachusetts  law  requires  that  the  cliildren  of  the  state 
shall  be  kept  in  school  until  they  are  fourteen  years  of  age.  At  four- 
teen the  child  may  be  taken  out  of  school  and  set  to  work  as  a  money- 
getter.  The  father  has  been  looking  forward  to  the  time  when  his 
boy,  hitherto  only  an  expense,  shall  become  profitable  to  him.  He  has 
a  poor  opinion  of  "  book  learning  "  and  an  exaggerated  opinion  of  his 
own  ability  to  teach  his  boy  better  than  the  school  can  teach  him. 
But  the  boy  has  no  inchnation  to  abandon  his  school  life  and  his  school- 
mates and  go  to  the  drudgery  and  the  lonely  life  of  the  farm.  He  tells 
his  teacher  of  his  desire  to  go  on  with  his  school  work  ;  but  he  cannot 
go  on  with  his  school  work  without  his  father's  consent.  Now  is  the 
teacher's  opportunity  and  the  teacher's  problem.  Opportunities 
are  always  problems  and  problems  are  generally  opportunities.  The 
teacher  goes  to  see  the  father.  For  this  interview  he  is  equipped  by 
his  practical  familiarity  with  farm  life  and  farm  problems.  He  may 
find  a  father  eager  for  the  better  education  of  his  child.  Then  the 
teacher's  problem  is  simple.  He  may  find  the  father  indifferent  or 
even  hostile.  Then  the  teacher's  problem  is  difficult.  He  succeeds, 
however,  in  getting  the  farmer  to  talk  the  matter  over  with  him. 
What  farm  work  does  the  boy  do?  The  work  for  the  boy  to  do  is 
outUned  by  the  father.  What  would  the  father  have  to  pay  a  boy 
from  outside  to  do  that  work?  The  material  for  an  answer  is  right 
at  hand.  Other  farmers  are  paying  two  dollars  a  day  for  the  work 
of  boys  who  have  had  no  experience  on  a  farm,  and  therefore  are  pre- 


THE   NEW   EDUCATION  455 

sumptively  worth  less  than  his  boy.  How  much  do  the  food  and 
clothing  of  his  boy  cost  ?  At  this  period  of  the  interview  the  mother 
is  called  in.  The  mother  is  generally  more  eager  than  the  father  for 
her  son's  education.  Together  they  figure  up  the  cost  in  dollars  and 
cents  of  the  boy's  keep,  estimating  at  market  prices  for  all  the  farm  food 
which  he  consumes.  > 

The  boy  never  before  realized  that  he  was  paid  anything  for  his 
work.  To  him  it  was  unpaid  drudgery.  The  father  never  before 
realized  that  he  was  making  money  out  of  his  boy.  Perhaps  never 
before  in  their  Uves  did  the  father,  mother,  and  son  sit  down  to  dis- 
cuss together  the  problem  of  their  common  life.  The  father  sees  a 
Httle  light  and  is  ready  to  hsten  to  a  practical  proposition.  It  comes 
from  the  teacher  in  some  such  form  as  this :  Let  your  boy  do  as  much 
of  the  farm  work  as  will  fairly  pay  the  cost  of  his  keep.  Let  him  have 
some  hens  or  a  cow  or  a  piece  of  ground  as  his  own  and  make  what  he 
can  out  of  this,  his  home  project.  Let  him  come  to  the  school  in 
such  time  as  he  has  left  and  get  what  we  can  give  to  him.  And  I  will 
come  once  a  week  or  once  a  fortnight,  will  supervise  his  work  and  give 
him  my  counsel,  not  only  on  his  home  project,  but  on  his  farm  work. 
This  will  cost  you  nothing.  The  boy's  work  will  pay  you  for  his  keep ; 
the  education  in  school  and  at  home  will  benefit  him  and  increase  his 
earning  capacity ;  you  can  try  the  experiment  for  a  year,  and  then 
bring  it  to  an  end  if  it  does  not  succeed.  Often  the  father  accedes 
cordially  to  the  proposal  when  thus  put  before  him ;  if  not,  he  finds 
it  difficult  to  stand  out  against  the  influence  of  the  teacher,  the  desires 
of  the  boy,  and  the  persuasions  of  the  mother.  The  boy  is  entered 
in  the  agricultural  department  of  the  high  school.  He  lives  at  home ; 
pays  for  his  living  by  his  work ;  has  a  minute  farm  assigned  to  him 
for  himself ;  and  has  a  teacher  whose  wise  friendship  is  a  guarantee 
against  failure. 

Not  the  least  advantage  of  this  arrangement  is  the  new  relation- 
ship established  between  father,  mother,  and  son  —  a  relationship  of 
mutual  regard.  The  son  reahzes  what  his  parents  are  doing  for  him, 
because  he  pays  them  by  his  work  the  recognized  market  price.  The 
father  recognizes  the  value  of  his  boy  because  the  profit  earned  by  his 
boy's  work  has  been  estimated  in  conference  with  him  by  an  impartial 


456  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTUR.AL   EDUCATION 

outsider.  The  husband  and  wife  get  at  least  a  glimpse,  which  they 
had  not  before,  of  their  economic  value  to  each  other  and  of  their 
boy's  economic  value  to  them.  They  thought  that  he  was  a  burden ; 
they  discover  that  he  is  an  asset.  And  the  boy  gains  a  new  self-re- 
spect as  a  valuable  member  of  the  household  and  finds  an  inspiration 
in  his  work  which  makes  it  no  longer  drudgery.  The  whole  household 
becomes  naturally  a  profit-sharing  concern,  which  before  they  did  not 
know  themselves  to  be. 

What  if  the  father  refuses  his  consent?  In  one  such  case  the  boy 
lost  his  chance  for  further  education.  In  another  case  the  boy,  after 
working  a  year  or  two  for  his  father,  gave  him  notice  that  he  would 
leave  the  home  and  shift  for  himself  unless  he  was  permitted  to  resume 
his  schooling  with  a  home  project  as  a  part  of  his  schooling.  Then 
the  father  surrendered.  But  in  most  cases  the  father's  affection  for 
the  boy  is  stronger  than  ignorance  and  prejudice  combined,  and, 
after  the  advantages  of  the  plan  have  been  clearly  and  simply  put 
before  him,  he  consents  that  his  boy  go  on  with  an  education  which 
the  home  and  the  school  combine  to  give  him. 

Generally  one  year  of  this  experiment  is  sufficient  to  win  for  its 
continuance  the  father's  cordial  approbation.  The  teacher's  instruc- 
tion to  the  boy  is  in  turn  imparted  to  or  picked  up  by  the  father.  He 
finds  that  "  book  learning  "  is  not  useless  when  it  is  understood  by  a 
practical  farmer  and  appHed  in  the  practical  treatment  of  the  farm. 
Thus  in  one  case  a  boy  had  as  his  home  project  six  rows  of  potatoes 
in  his  father's  potato  field.  The  father  sprayed  the  potatoes  with 
arsenate  of  lead,  which  protected  them  from  insects ;  but  arsenate 
of  lead  does  not  protect  from  blight.  The  boy  learned  this  fact  at 
school,  and,  coming  home,  asked  permission  to  spray  the  potatoes  also 
with  Bordeaux  mixture.  The  father  thought  this  a  needless  expense, 
and  declined.  Then  the  boy  asked  permission  to  make  enough  Bor- 
deaux mixture  to  spray  his  own  Home  Project,  and  the  father  assented. 
In  the  fall  the  boy's  potato  vines  were  flourishing,  the  father's  potato 
vines  were  dead.  The  next  spring  the  father  told  the  boy  to  prepare 
the  necessary  amount  of  Bordeaux  mixture  for  the  protection  of  the 
next  year's  crop  and  bought  a  barrel  and  pump  sprayer.  In  another 
case  the  boy  learned  in  school  the  relative  cost  of  purchasing  a  fer- 


THE  NEW  EDUCATION  457 

tilizer  compared  with  the  cost  of  purchasing  the  materials  and  making 
a  fertihzer,  and  learned  that  the  farmer  is  at  a  disadvantage  in  buying 
his  fertilizers  at  retail  prices  and  selling  his  products  at  wholesale 
prices.  He  learned  from  the  school  that  by  combining  with  other 
farmers  his  father  can  buy  fertilizers  by  the  carload,  and  by  selective 
packing  of  his  fruit  can  secure  a  higher  price  for  the  better  grades. 
The  result  was  an  enrichment  of  the  entire  community.  I  went  into 
one  orchard  where  the  schoolboy  had  half  a  dozen  apple  trees  as  a 
part  of  his  Home  Project.  Even  with  my  unpracticed  eyes  I  could 
see  the  advantage  to  the  trees  from  his  scientific  pruning.  In  another 
part  of  this  same  farm  the  boy,  as  a  part  of  his  home  project,  was 
starting  new  trees  from  grafted  cuttings  from  his  father's  orchard,  thus 
saving  the  expense  of  a  purchase  from  the  nursery.  Where  sympa- 
thetic relations  are  estabhshed  between  the  boy  and  his  father,  and 
also  between  the  teacher  and  the  boy,  sympathetic  relations  between 
the  school  and  the  farm  follow  naturally  and  almost  inevitably. 

The  public  appreciation  of  the  boy's  success  adds  to  the  boy's  new 
standing  in  the  family.  The  boy  is  not  without  honor  save  in  his  own 
household,  and  when  the  honors  which  he  has  won  outside  are  reported 
to  the  household  his  father  and  mother  share  in  the  pride  of  his  achieve- 
ment. The  boy's  examinations  are  conducted  partly,  at  least,  on  the 
farm  or  in  connection  with  his  farm  work.  The  boys  are  taught  how 
to  judge  cattle  and  other  farm  products.  These  boy  judges  are  them- 
selves judged  in  turn  by  a  committee  of  experts.  On  one  farm  which 
I  visited  the  boy  had  won  a  prize  for  the  wisdom  of  his  judgment. 
The  prize  was  a  young  Jersey  bull  —  pure  bred  and  registered  —  and 
we  went  out  to  the  pasture  to  see  it.  The  boy's  pride  in  showing  us 
his  prize  was  delightful  to  witness.  It  needs  no  great  imagination 
to  enable  one  to  reahze  what  the  possession  of  that  bull  meant,  not 
only  to  him,  but  to  his  father  and  his  mother.  Another  boy  had 
earned  as  his  prize  a  trip  to  Washington,  D.  C.  Can  any  one  doubt 
that  this  journey  to  the  capital  of  his  country,  which  the  father  and 
mother  had  never  visited,  gave  him  a  new  standing,  not  only  in  the 
home,  but  in  the  farms  in  the  immediate  vicinity  ? 

Farming  is  a  much  mo^e  intricate  operation  than  the  average  city- 
bred  person  imagines.     We  shall  all  know  a  little  more  about  it  after 


458  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

the  experience  in  farming  which  the  country  is  getting  this  year.  I 
heard  on  this  trip  of  one  enthusiastic  lady  who  to  prepare  her  potatoes 
for  planting  cut  them  in  slices,  as  she  would  for  frying.  I  wonder 
what  harvest  she  will  get?  I  heard  of  an  enthusiastic  gentleman  who 
to  prepare  his  field  for  potatoes  plowed  just  deeply  enough  to  turn  the 
sod  over  and  give  it  a  fresh  chance  to  grow.  There  are  only  eleven 
girls  in  Massachusetts  who  are  taking  the  agricultural  course,  though 
there  are  hundreds  who  are  taking  the  course  in  home-making.  1 
visited  one  of  these  eleven  girls  on  her  farm.  I  had  been  told  before 
that  her  health  was  so  poor  and  her  intellectual  equipment  so  inade- 
quate that  the  teacher  and  the  doctor  combined  to  advise  that  she  be 
taken  out  of  school.  She  was,  however,  allowed  to  enter  the  agricul- 
tural department.  She  came  out  to  our  automobile.  A  brighter  and 
more  intelligent  face,  healthier  color,  more  vigorous  action,  no  one 
would  ask  to  see.  She  brought  us  her  account-sheets,  in  which  she 
had  carefully  kept  all  the  expenses  for  food  for  her  animals  and  seed 
for  her  ground,  and  in  which  she  had  credited  herself  with  the  market . 
value  of  all  her  products.  She  knew  exactly  what  the  profit  of  her 
agricultural  ventures  had  been.  This  girl,  who  the  teacher  and  the 
doctor  thought  must  leave  the  school,  won  last  year  the  first  prize 
in  potato-growing  in  competition  with  not  only  the  ten  other  girls 
but  also  the  five  hundred  boys  pursuing  agricultural  education.  There 
is  evidently  no  sex  prejudice  in  this  agricultural  education.  A  second 
prize  in  judging  live-stock  at  the  Eastern  States  Exposition  last  Octo- 
ber was  won  by  a  girl  in  competition  with  a  hundred  boys  from  the 
Northeastern  States,  including  all  of  New  England,  New  Jersey,  and 
Pennsylvania.  Her  prize  was  a  pure-bred  Jersey  bull  calf  of  the 
finest  lineage  —  a  calf  for  which  she  has  refused  fancy  prices.  The 
total  value  of  the  prizes  won  in  Massachusetts  agricultural  schools  in 
1916  was  $1491.80. 

It  was  a  delight  to  see  the  pride  which  these  young  farmers  took  in 
their  work,  the  smiling  welcome  which  they  gave  to  their  teacher, 
the  fellowship  between  the  two  —  born  of  common  interest  in  the  soil 
and  its  products  —  their  freedom  from  all  self-consciousness  in  talk- 
ing with  us  strangers,  and  the  exactitude  of  their  knowledge  in  report- 
ing the  results  of  their  work.     They  knew  just  how  many  eggs  they 


THE   NEW  EDUCATIOX  459 

had  gathered  from  their  hen  yards,  how  much  profit  they  had  made 
from  the  pigs,  how  many  quarts  of  milk  they  got  from  their  cow. 
There  was  never  any  guesswork.  Not  less  inspiring  was  it  to  see  the 
estimate  they  put  upon  education.  One  boy  went  every  day  five 
miles  to  his  school  and  five  miles  to  his  home  in  return.  He  had,  it 
is  true,  a  bicycle,  but  the  road  was  so  hilly  that  the  bicycle  carried 
him  only  one-half  of  the  distance,  while  he,  so  to  speak,  carried  the 
bicycle  the  other  half.  Another  boy  lived  ten  miles  from  his  school, 
going  back  and  forth  once  a  week,  yet  contriving  to  keep  up  his  home 
project  successfully. 

The  interest  of  these  pupils  is  not  purely  an  industrial  interest. 
The  education  is  not  merely  an  education  in  soils  and  crops.  It  in- 
cludes not  only  a  practical  acquaintance  with  simple  bookkeeping, 
but  a  practical  habit  of  so  keeping  the  books  as  to  insure  wise  econ- 
omies and  wise  expenditures.  To  be  a  really  successful  farmer  one 
needs  to  know,  not  only  something  concerning  soils  and  fertilizers  and 
crops,  but  also  something  concerning  markets.  These  school  boys 
and  girls  are  required  as  part  of  their  education  to  do  very  careful 
bookkeeping.  There  lie  before  me  copies  of  the  account-sheets  kept 
by  some  of  these  pupils.  One  of  them,  for  example,  "  a  pupil's  ap- 
proved individual  cow  account,"  gives  in  tabulated  form  the  pounds 
of  milk  furnished  by  the  cow  each  month,  a  statement  of  the  cost  of 
feed  so  itemized  as  to  show  the  cost  of  each  article,  the  proceeds  re- 
ceived from  the  sale  of  the  milk,  and  the  profit  or  loss  of  the  cow  for 
each  month.  Another  table  gives  a  summary  of  all  the  other  earnings 
of  the  boy,  including  playing  the  violin  for  an  evening  entertainment, 
the  boy  being  a  capable  musician.  A  third  table  is  a  condensed  finan- 
cial statement  for  a  year  on  a  dairy  project  covering  five  cows,  and  was 
accompanied  by  an  individual  record  of  these  five  cows.  This  par- 
ticular table  I  transfer  to  these  pages  (substituting  only  the  boy's 
initials  for  his  name),  at  the  top  of  the  next  column ;  it  shows  better 
than  words  could  do  how  the  boys  learn  to  render  condensed  and  sim- 
plified accounts,  how  to  handle  their  figures,  how  to  think  straight, 
and  how  to  boil  the  results  down  so  that  at  a  glance  they  or  their 
parents  or  instructors  may  perceive  the  result  in  dollars  and  cents  of 
the  year's  industry. 


4-60 


VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 


Nor  is  this  all.  These  agricultural  departments  in  the  high  schools 
include  cultural  as  well  as  vocational  training.  Roughly  speaking, 
about  one-half  the  pupil's  time  is  devoted  to  his  farm  work  and  the 
scientific  education  required  to  make  that  farm  work  of  the  best 
quaUty.  The  other  half  of  the  pupil's  time  is  devoted  to  study  in 
the  school  of  such  topics  as  English ;  social  science,  including  com- 
munity civics  and  economics;  natural  science,  including  biology, 
physics,  and  chemistry;  drawing;  shop  work;  some  of  the  more 
elementary  commercial  themes;  physical  training;  and  the  oppor- 
tunity for  music  and  recreation. 


Table  No.   13. — Copy  of  a  Pupil's  Approved 

A  Dairy  Project 


Financial  Statement  "  on 


H.  C.  N. 


Date 


Transactions 


1914  Financial  Statement 


My  labor at  $  .25 

Other  man  labor    ...     at       .20 
Miscellaneous  expenses  .... 

Net  profit ,    . 

Manure,  55  tons    .     .     .     at    1.50 

5  calves at     4.00 

31,342  lb.  milk       ....         .022 

Stock  bought  

Inventory,  1913 

1914 

Feed 

Totals 


Hours 


Man 


Horse 


Dairy 


Receipts 


S      82 

20 

689 

336 
1,128 


so 
00 

52 


75 


77 


Expenses 


161 
90 

6S 

144 


25 
243 

398 
1,12 


60 

S8 
64 
80 


00 
00 

24 
77 


Some  tragedies  this  farm  work  has  averted.  In  one  farm  which 
we  visited  the  father  had  died,  leaving  a  boy  of  seventeen  the  sole 
support  of  his  widowed  mother.  Their  means  were  hmited.  He  had 
one  cow  and  no  horses.  To  get  his  field  plowed  he  swapped  work 
with  his  neighbor.  But  he  found  time  to  attend  the  school,  and  it 
was  clear  that  the  friendly  fellowship  of  his  teacher  saved  him  from  the 
loneliness  of  what  would  otherwise  have  been  a  most  pathetic  life  and 
enabled  him  to  feel  that  he  was  really  an  appreciated  member  of  a 
great  industrial  community.     Another  boy  with  curvature  of  the  spine 


THE   NEW    EDUCATION  46 1 

had  cultivated  a  little  plot  of  ground  adjoining  his  village  home  and 
sold  the  products  from  a  pushcart  until  he  had  made  enough  to  buy, 
I  think  it  was,  two  acres  of  land,  where  he  was  cheerfully  working  as 
we  passed  by,  and  from  which  he  came  to  us  with  beaming  face  to 
greet  his  friend  the  teacher.  In  still  another  case  we  found  two 
pioneer  boys  who  were  redeeming  a  plot  of  ground  from  a  forest. 
They  had  lived  one  year  in  a  tent  while  they  were  building  the  not 
uncomfortable-looking  shack  which  is  now  their  home.  How  the 
half-dozen  forest  trees  had  been  felled  I  do  not  know,  but  they  had 
rooted  out  the  stumps  and  dug  up  the  plot  of  ground  which  constituted 
the  beginning  of  their  farm.  My  companion  expressed  her  admira-. 
tion  for  their  grit  by  remarking  to  one  of  the  boys  :  "  I  should  not  Hke 
to  do  that  hard  plowing."  His  reply  was  :  "  I  like  it,  and  that  is  the 
difference  between  you  and  me." 

This  development  of  pride  in  hard  work  struck  me  as  one  of  the 
most  notable  benefits  of  this  farm  education.  One  of  the  pupils  whom 
I  visited  had  taken,  with  his  brother,  a  large  home  project,  and  he 
told  us  with  evident  pleasure,  not  as  a  matter  of  boasting,  but  in  re- 
sponse to  our  inquiry  as  to  his  hours  of  labor,  that  the  day  before  he 
had  risen  at  half-past  five  in  the  morning  to  do  his  chores,  including 
the  milking  of  twelve  cows  before  breakfast,  and  at  a  quarter  past  nine 
at  night  had  been  putting  some  seed  into  the  ground  by  lantern  light 
because  he  wanted  to  get  the  job  done  that  day. 

The  home  project,  planned  at  the  school,  studied  at  both  school 
and  home,  executed  by  the  pupil,  and  sympathetically  supervised  by 
the  expert  agricultural  instructor  traveUng  from  farm  to  farm,  is  the 
dominant  feature  of  the  Massachusetts  system  of  vocational  agri- 
cultural education.  There  are  no  school  dormitories  in  this  system. 
The  home  project  is  no  less  characteristic  of  the  four  separate  and 
county  agricultural  schools  than  it  is  of  the  one-teacher  or  two-teacher 
departments  in  high  schools.  Everywhere  it  is  a  system  of  "earning 
and  learning  " ;  and  the  earnings  are  of  considerable  economic  im- 
portance, amounting  for  five  hundred  pupils  in  1916  to  $7S^7(^^-S3- 

I  am  not  so  much  interested  in  what  these  boys  and  girls  are  doing 
for  the  soil  as  I  am  with  what  the  soil  is  doing  for  these  boys  and  girls. 
This  form  of  agricultural  education  seems  to  me  to  throw  no  little 


462  VOCATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 

light  on  some  of  the  perplexing  problems  of  our  American  life.  It  is 
a  great  unifier.  It  brings  the  school  and  the  home  together;  the 
teacher  and  the  parents  together ;  education  and  life  together ;  and, 
what  is  perhaps  best  of  all,  fulfills  the  promise  of  the  Hebrew  prophet 
and  turns  the  heart  of  the  fathers  to  the  children  and  the  heart  of  the 
children  to  the  fathers. 


INDEX 


Abbott,  Dr.  Lyman,  i6,  431,  451 

Accounts  and  accounting,  55-57,  77-78,  231, 

234,  241,  252,  256,  258,  295,  340,  410, 

412,  414-415,  420  ff.,  439,  458-461 
Adams  Act,  38 
Admission  of  pupils,  280  ff. 
Advisory  Committee,  183,  189 
Agreement,   .\pplication  and,   282-285,   353. 

390,  400-409,  454-457 
Agricultural  departments  in  high  schools,  24, 

25,  26,  29,  178-301,  315 
Agricultural  Education,  Vocational,  Needs  of, 

315-322 
Agricultural  Schools,  9,  21,  22,  178-301,  315- 

322 
"Agricultural    Survey"    instruction,    72-76, 

158 
Agricultural  textbooks,  general,  164,  172,  173 
Allen,  C.  R.,  15 
American  Association  for  the  .Advancement 

of  Agricultural  Teaching,  338 
Ames,  F.  L.    See  Langwater  Farms 
Amsden,  Maude,  431 
Animal  Diseases,  Books  on,  165 
Feeds  and  Feeding,  Books  on,  165 
Life,  Propagation  and  Tests,  Books  on,  165 
Husbandrj',  Books  on,  162 
Arab  Horses,  364-371 
Ashfield  Agricultural  Department,   58,    no, 

III,   115,   135,   156,   189,   208,  304,  309, 

346-351.429.  453 

B 

Bacteriology,  Agricultural,  Books  on,  166,  168 

Bagley,  W.  C,  8 

Bailey,  L.  H.,  105,  109,  154, 155, 159,  163, 164, 

166,  169,  171,  174 
Balch,  Russell,  217 
Bartlett,  C.  S.,  441-445 
Baxter,  Sylvester,  310-313 
Bee  Projects,  79,  160,  231 
Benson  and  Betts,  158 
Belkr  Fruit,  138 


Bibliographv,  entry  numbers,  etc.,   loo-ioi, 

135   ff. 
Birds  and  Agriculture,  Books  on,  166 
Bitterness,     Early,     between    .\dvocates    of 

Cultural  and  Vocational  Education,   17, 

19 

Blakeslee  and  Jarvis,  173 

Bloom  and  Johanson,  212-215,  434-435 

Borden,  Spencer,  364-371 

Boston,  Survey  regarding  Agricultural  In- 
struction for  Families  in,  325  ff. 

Boston,  L.  B.,  loi,  102,  420 

Boston  Universitj%  Bureau  of  Educational 
Service,  11 

Botany  and  Plant  Physiology,  Books  on,  166 

Bradlee,  T.,  loi,  102 

Branches  of  County  Agricultural  Schools  in 
Massachusetts,  191,  201 

Breeder's  Gazette,  138 

Bricker,  G.  A.,  172,  174 

Brimfield  Agricultural  Department,  87,  113, 
205,  209-211,  300-303,  306,  307,  313,  320, 
428,  429 

Bristol  County  Agricultural  School,  92,93- 
95,  97,  150,  151,  210,  241,  243,  251,  268, 
281,  282,  287-289,  298,  338,  339,  363, 
378,  379.  381,  387.  422,  429 

Brooks,  W.  P.,  164 

Brown,  E.  E.,  16 

Bureau  of  Education,  U.  S.,  11, 13,  14,  23,  140, 

357 
Burke,  E.  J.,  loi,  358 
Burkett,  C.  W.,  165,  171-173 
Butterfield,  K.  L.,  174.  See  also  Massachusetts 

Agricultural  College 


Cance,  .\lexander,  350,  351 
Career  Motive,  264,  265,  281 
Carver,  T.  N.,  168 
Certification  Records,  425 
Chemistry  and  .\griculture,  Books  on,  167 
Chicago,  Evening  Agricultural  Instruction  in, 
323 


46J 


464 


INDEX 


Chipchase,  George,  363 
Citizenship  Education,  258  S.,  446-449 
City    Tenement    Families,    Agricultural    In- 
struction for,  322-337 
Clinton  Agricultural  Department,  429 
Clydesdales  at  Langwater  Farms,   279,  372, 

373 
Coggeshall,  D.  E.,  434 
College,    Short    Courses   in    Agriculture    as 

Winter  Stop-gaps,  343 
CoUingwood,  H.  W.,  160 
Commissioner  of  Agriculture  in  Massachusetts, 

308,  314 
Commissions    on    Industrial    Education    in 

Massachusetts,  8-10 
Common  Sense.  Organization  of,  93-94 
Community  Organization,  352,  354,  356 
Concord  Agricultural  Department.  60,  62,  63, 

66-69,  77>  81.  100,  112,  152,  IS3,  178,  183, 

186,  187,  19s,  214,  219,  232,  233,   271, 

284,  294,  312,  388,  389,  403-405,  408,  429 
Concrete  mixing  and  use,  S3 
"Conference  on  WTieels,''  360,  364-367,  374 
Connecticut  River  Stock  Farm,  332 
Conservation,  A  Problem  of,  10-14 
Construction  and  Repairs,  Books  on,  167 
Cooperation,  182,  183,  357-381 
Coryell,  J.,  loi,  102 
Cost  Accounting.     See  Accounts 
Country  Life,  Books  on  Betterment  of,  174- 

175 

County  Organizations,  Model,  378-381,  384 

County  Planning  Conferences.  344-347 

County  Agricultural  Schools  Compared  with 
High  School  Agricultural  Departments, 
178  flf.  See  Table  of  Contents  for  out- 
line. 

Courses  in  Schools  and  Departments  Com- 
pared, 216  ff. 

Cow  Account  for  a  year,  414-415 

Cranberry  Growng,  396 

Crocheron,  B.  H.,  34 

Crosby,  D.  J.,  26,  34 

Cultural  Education,  7,  8,  9,  10,  446-449 

D 

Dairy   Products   and   Manufactures,    Books 

on,  168 
Dairy  Projects,  83,  238,  242 
Davenport,  Eugene,  164,  174 
Davis,  I.  G.,  87,  205,  411 
Davis,  Philip.  325 
Day,  G.  E.,  i6i 


Day,  Length  of  Pupil's,  292 

Defeat,  Traditions  of,  97 

"Deferred  Values,"  89,  90 

Departments,  Agricultural,  24-29,  178  S., 
31S 

De  Quoy,  436-437 

Dickinson,  W.  H.,  333 

Doolittle,  A.  W.,  102,  284,  312,  388,  389,  405, 
421,  422 

Dormitories,  Avoid,  375-376 

Douglas  Commission  on  Industrial  Edu- 
cation, 8-9 

Duggar,  B.  M.,  166,  170 

Duggar,  J.  F.,  172 

Dunham,  Austin,  323-324 

E 

Earning  and  Learning,  56,  87,  429 

Eastern  States  Exposition,  433,  434,  458 

Eastwood,  437-439 

Eaton,  T.  H.,  175 

Economics,  Rural,  Books  on,  168 

Education,  i.     See  analysis  of  Chapter  I,  in 

Contents 
Education,  Money  Values  of,  11,  13,  14 
Education,  Rural,  Books  on  Betterment  of, 

174-175 
"  Educational  Manager,"  197 
Educators,  Cooperation  with,  183 
Edwards,  F.  L.,  431 
ElUs,  A.  C,  "Money  Value  of  Education," 

II,  13,  14 

Ellsworth,  J.  L.,  308,  313 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo,  7 

Employment  of  Pupils,  383  S. 

Enrollment  Cards,  390,  391,  400,  401 

Essex  County  Agricultural  School,  46-52, 
54,  55,  78,  142,  145,  147,  188,  191,  196, 
203,  212,  213,  215,  217,  218,  221-226, 
228-231,  236,  253,  254,  258,  269,  270,  296, 
338,  349,  363,  365,  381,  394,  429.  432  ff. 

Evening  Classes,  256 


Falmouth,  Mass..  429 

FamiUes.  Tenement.  Agricultural  Instruction 

for,  ,U2-337,  384 
Farley,  G.  L.,  336 
Farm  Bureau  Departments  and  Cooperation, 

igr,  362-364,  384 
Farm  Income  and  Education  in  New  York,  14 
Farm  Management,  Books  on,  168 
Farm  Management  Projects,  83,  238,  342 


INDEX 


465 


Farm  Practice  Sheets,  257,  295,  425 

Farm  Shop  Work,  227,  238,  239,  243,  343 

Farmers,  Cooperation  with,  183,  372-378 

Farming  in  Massachusetts,  303-315     • 

Fay,  J.  H.,  102,  108 

Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Education,  140, 

34i>  357-358 
Feeds  and  Feeding,  Books  on,  165 
Fertilizers,  Books  on,  170 
Field  Crop  Projects,  238,  243 
Fish,  F.  P.,  13-14 
Forgetting,  Education  in,  90 
Franklin  County  Farm  Bureau,  351 
Fruit  Growing,  78,  83,  159,  163,  169,  221-230, 

238,  242,  408 
Fumigation,  Books  on,  172 


Garden    City,    Aiding    Movement    toward, 

322-337 
Gardening  and  Games,  336-337 
Garden  Magazine,  138 
Gaskill,  R.  H.,  394,  397 
General  Education  Subjects,  258  ff. 
"Gentlemen  of  the  Old  School,"  446-449 
Geology,  Books  on,  170 
Georgia  Agricultural  Schools,  23 
Gilbert,  G.  H.,  339,  387,  422 
Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture,  138 
Graduates,  Keeping  in  Touch  with,  440  ff . 
Grange,  The,  182 
Greene,  M.Louis?,  71 
Griggs,  Edward  Howard,  14 

H 

Hackneys,  362,  363 

Hadley  Agricultural  Department,  85,   86,  88, 

89,  139,  197-202,  210,  235,  249,  255,  256, 

262,  263,  297,  305,  358,  429 
Half-day  Blocks  of  Time  for  Project  Study 

and  Project  Work,  71-76,  341  ff. 
Hall-Quest,  A.  L.,  76,  175,  342,  366 
HaU,  WeUs  A.,  422 
Hampton  Institute,  451 
Hanus,  Paul  H.,  9 
Harper,  M.  W'.,  158,  162 
Harris,  Abram,  4 
Harvard  College,  i,  5,  7 
Harwich  Agricultural  Department,  192,  429 
Hatch  and  Hazlewood,  172 
Hatch,  Mayne  and,  158 
Hawkins,  L.  S.,  Chief.    See  Federal  Board  for 

Vocational  Education 


Henry,  W'.  A.,  165 

High  School  Agricultural  Departments  com- 
pared with  County  Agricultural  Schools, 
178  ff. 
High  School,  the  People's  College,  7 
Hoard's  Dairyman,  138 
Holyoke  Agricultural  Department,   Evening, 

429 
Home-Making  Departments  of  Agricultural 

Schools,  35-37.  39-45.  452 
Home  Project 

Origination  of,  35-40 

Defined  and  described,  40-44 

Cost  accounting  essential  to,  55 

No-dormitor>'  plan,  36,  375-376 

Parents  like  home  projects,   53,    454-457, 

462 
Pupils  like  home  projects,  54,  98,  454-462 
Substitutes  for,  22,  233,  239,  245,  246,   255, 

256 
Universally  applicable,  58 
Homestead  Commission,  Massachusetts,  330, 

337 
Hood  Farm,  Lowell,  Mass.,  442,  444 
Horses,  Management  of,  238,  245 
Hummel,  W.  G.,  175 
Hunt,  T.  F.,  164,  168,  171,  17s 
Huxley,  93 


Improvement  Projects,  40,  41,  42,  85 
Insects,  Books  on,  169 
"Interlachen."   5ee  Borden,  Spencer 
International  Film  Service  Inc.,  270 
Itinerant  Agricultural  Instruction  for  Fam- 
ilies, 322-337 


Jarvis,  Blakeslee  and,  173 

Johanson  and  Bloom,  212-215,  434-435 

Jordan,  W.  H.,  165 

K 

King,  Mrs.  W.  A.,  360 

Kitchen  Gardening,   76,    1 19-126,    139,    159, 
194,  222,  261,  403 


Langwater  Farms,   267,  278,  279,  372-374 
Lapp  and  Mote,  1 2, 175,  369 
Leadership  versus  Service,  384  ff. 


2U 


466 


INDEX 


Lee,  C.  E.,  403,  408,  427 

Leominster  Agricultural  Department,  429 

Lettuce  Growing,  96,  126-134 

Lewis,  H.  R.,  160 

Library  Bureau,  417 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  4 

Lipman,  J.  G.,  166 

Lippincott,  W.  A.,  160 

Long  Distance  Educator,  369-370 

Long  Term  Planning,  352,  354,  356 

Loti,  Pierre,  14 

Lowell,  James  Russell,  2 

M 

Mann,  A.  R.,  73,  158 

Market  Gardening  Books,  163 

Market  Gardening  Projects,  61,  83,  194,   238, 

243,  261 
Market  Growers^  Journal,  138 
Marlborough   Agricultural   Department,    80, 

107-109,  207,  208,  310,  429 
Massachusetts.      See  Needs,  and  Surveys 
Massachusetts  Agricultural  College,  304,  346, 

350,, 351,  352,  354,  3s6,  359-361,    364, 

397,  442,451 
Massachusetts    Agricultural     (College)     Ex- 
periment Station,  145 
Massachusetts  Agricultural  College  Extension 

Service,  147,  397,  446 
Massachusetts    Board    of    Agriculture,    151, 

308,  314,  361-362 
Massachusetts  Board  of  Education,   13,   19, 

38,  323  ff. 
Massachusetts  Farming,  303-315 
Massachusetts  High  School  Masters  Club,  342 
Massachusetts  Homestead  Commission,  330, 

337 
Massachusetts  State  Forester,  151,  362 
Mayne  and  Hatch,  158 
Mayo,  N.  S.,  165 
Meier,  W.  H.  D,  159 
Mental  Discipline,  7 
Merriam,  B.  J.,  386-388 
Metcalf,  E.  E.,  396  £f. 
Metcalf,  Miss  Julia,  385 
Methods  of  Instruction,  276  ff. 
Middle  Distance  Educator,  370-371,  384 
Minnesota  Northwest  School  of  Agriculture 

and  Branch  Experiment  Station,  Crook- 

ston,  34,  338 
Minnesota  School  of  Agriculture,  St.  Anthony 

Park,  21,  338 
Moore,  Judge  W.  H.,  362,  363 


Morrill  Act,  4 
Morrill,  Justin  S.,  4 
Moses,  H.  A".,  442 
Music,  262,  264,  265,  448 
Myrick,  Herbert,  162 

N 

National  Dairy  Show,  434 

National  Education  Association,  19 

Needs    for,    or    in.    Vocational    Agricultural 
Education,  30,  31,  315-322 

New  England  Homestead,  138 

New  Salem  Agricultural  Department,  429 

Newton  Agricultural  Department,  388,  429 

New  York,  Education  and  farm  income,  14 

Nolan,  A.  W  ,  172,  175 

Non-resident  Pupils,  282 

Norcross,  H.  C,  Frontispiece  and  410,  412, 
414-415.  418,  420 

Norfolk  County  Agricultural  School,  193, 
214,  318,  319,  363,  378-381,  429 

North  Adams  Agricultural  Department,  386, 
429 

North  Attleborough  Agricultural  Depart- 
ment, 429 

North  Easton  Agricultural  Department,  59, 
79,  90,  91,  102,  103,  157,  185,  193,  267, 
272,  273,  278,  279,  311,  374,  381,  429 

Northrup,  Cyrus,  22 

Northwest  School  of  Agriculture,  Crookston, 
Minn.,  34,  338 

Norwood  Agricultural  Department,  429 


O 

"Open  Doors  of  Opportunity,"  26 
Orange  Agricultural  Department,  429 
Ornamental  Planting,  61,  83-85,  161,  223 
Outline  Making,  76-85,  99  &.,  355,  410  ff. 
Outlook,  The,  310,  451 


Pageants,  382-383,  448 

Palmer,  George  Herbert,  5 

Panama   Pacific   Exposition,    Massachusetts 

Exhibit  at,  15,  17,  18,  20-22,  440.     See 

author's  Preface 
Park  and  Cemetery,  138 
Part-time  Pupils,  254,  300,  302,  447 
Patrons  of  Husbandry,  182 
Pepper,  C.  L.,  Statistical  Charts  Prepared  by, 

17-22,440 


INDEX 


467 


Petersham  Agricultural  Department,  56,  57, 
gg,  114,  117,  140,  141.  154.  237,  240,  246, 

247,  285,  286,  308,  429,  431 

Pet-stock,  Transition  from,  81 

Physical  Geography,  Books  on,  171 

Physical  Training,  260  ff. 

Physics  of  Agriculture,  Books  on,  170 

Plant  Diseases,  Books  on,  170 

Plant  Foods  and  Feeding,  Books  on,  1 70 

Plant  Life,  Propagation  and  Tests,  Books  on, 

171 
Pottinger,  D.  T.,  449 
Poultry  Projects,  61,  80,  loi,  139,  160,  194, 

231, -261,  404-405 
Powell,  E.  C,  160 
Powers,  J.  G.,  loi,  102 
Pratt  Experiment  Farms,  358 
Prizes,  154,  249,  270,  296,  305,  430-431,  436, 

437,  439.  457.  458 
Productive  Projects,  41,  42,  43,  86-88,  406 
Productive  Work,  Vital  Test,  32 
"Professional  Improvement,"  ig7,  26g,  342- 

3SI 
■Profita,  Francesco,  325 
Project    Agreements,    353,    3go,    400,    409, 

454-457 
Project,  Educational  Analysis  of  a,  44-50 
Project  Fields  or  Classes,  44 
Projects  and  Other  Farm  Work,  50,  454  fi. 
Projects,  Kinds  of,  64-66 
Projects,  School  Farming  as,  338  ff. 
Projects,  Size  of,  406  ff. 
Project  Study  Adapted  to  Individuals,  63-64, 

71-75.  454-457 
Project  Study,  Grouping  of  Pupils  for,  60-63 
Project     Study,    Natural      versus     Artificial 

Units,  94 
Project    Study,    Organization    of     Common 

Sense,  93-94 
Project  Study,  Range  and  Progress  of,  59 
Project  Study  versus  Subject  Study,  88-98 
Projects,  Substitutes  for,  22,  217,  233,  239, 

24s,  246,  250,  25s,  256,  264,  265,    303, 

390,  408-410,  437 
Project,  Surveys  of  Facilities  for,  353 
Project  Vicissitudes,  99 
Project  Work,  School  Credit  for,  409 
Prosser,  C.  A.,  10,  39-40 
Publishers,  List  of,  176-177 

Q 

Qualifications    of    Agricultural     Instructors, 
266  ff.,  454 


R 

Reading  Agricultural  Department,  212,   351, 

429 
Records,  231,  234,  241,  252,  256,  258,  294  ff., 

342-351.  353.  355.  418  ff. 
Recreation,  264,  265,  266,  285,  385,  448 
Redfield,  W.  C,  12 
Reference  Books,  List  of,  158  ff. 
"Related  Study,"  227,  234,  241,  252 
Remembering,  Education  in,  96 
Reports,  300,  340,  427  ff.     See  also  Accounts 
Rice,  J.  E.,  143 
Robertson,  J.  W.,  175 
Robinson,  J.  H.,  160 
Robison,  C.  H.,  175 
Roosevelt,  Theodore,  384 
Rose,  M.  S.,  102 
Rural  Nrw  Yorker,  138 
Russell,  H.  L.,  166,  168 


Salaries  of  Agricultural  Instructors,  276 

Sampson,  H.  O.,  158 

.Sanderson.  E.  D.,  i6g 

Saugus  Agricultural  Department,  3gi,  429 

School  and  Home  Education,  8 

School  Farms,  Limitations  of,  32  ff.,  178  ff., 

375  ff- 
Schools  of  Privilege,  9 
Schools  of  Protest,  9 
School  Year,  287  ff. 
Sears,  F.  C,  163 
Seasonal  Planning  of   Instruction,   355-357. 

403,  404-405,  408 
Service,  Fight  for,  384  ff. 
Service  System,  A  Model,  378-381 
Sevey,  G.  C,  159 
Sheep  Projects,  61,  82,   139,   140,   161,   194, 

231,  261 
Shetland  Pony  Breeding,  360 
Short  Distance  Educator,  371-372,  384 
Shrubs,  List  of,  83  ff. 
Small,  R.  O.,  40,  178 
Smith,  F.  A.,  222-230 
"Smith-Hughes  Act,"  ig,  322,  342,  344 
Smith,  Payson,  40     . 
Smith,  W.  C,  10 
Smith  .\gricultural    School,    24-31,    37,  82, 

116,  136,  137.  148,  140,  182,  208,  234,  244, 

245,  248,  260,  263,  276,  277,  283,  290.  291, 

295.  316,  322-330,  334,  3.36-338,  340-347. 

382-385,  429,  450 
Snedden,  David,  39-40,  175 


468 


INDEX 


Spectator  versus  Participant,  33-34 

Spencer,  Herbert,  3 

Soils  and  Soil  Fertility,  Books  on,  171 

Soule  and  Turpin,  172 

Spra\'ing,  Books  on,  172 

Sterling,  Henry,  330,  337 

Stimson,  R.  W.,  451 

Stimson,  S.  N.,  395,  397 

Sub-projects,  232,  238.  239,  243,  245 

Substitutes  for  Home  Projects,  22,  217,  233, 

239>  245-   246,  250,  255,  256,  264,   265, 

303,  390.  408-410,  437 
Success,  Traditions  of,  97 
Supervised  Study,  342 
Supervision,  Spirit  and  Methods  of,  297-300, 

353,  426,  455,  457.  458-  460,  461 
Surv^eys,  302-31S.  323-337.  392-395.  399 
Sussmann,  Rudolf,  346-351 
Swett,  R.  W.,  388 
Swine  Projects,  61,  82,  139.  141.  142,  i45.  U?. 

161,  194,  231,  243,  261 


Teachers,  Qualifications  of  Agricultural,  266 

fi-.  454 
Teacher-Training,     Agriculttiral,     Itinerant, 

Project  Plan,  344-345 
Team-Work,  357-381 
Tenement  Families,  Agricultural  Instruction 

for,  322-337 
Terms,  Length  of,  287  5. 
Textbooks,  Lists  of,  158  ff. 
Three  R's  of  the  Project  Method,  The,  66, 

70 
Tidow,  C.  R.,  348 
Tompkins,  Col.  Frank,  368-371 
Trees  not  for  Fruit,  Books  on,  173 
"Trial"  Projects,  40,  41,  42.  85 
Turner  Hill  Farm,  221-230 
Two  States,  10 

U 

Underwood  and  Underwood,  N.  Y.,  36S,  370 
United  Cape  Cod  Cranberry  Co.,  396 


United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  26, 
34,  140-142,  143-144.  357-359.  369,  421 


Vacations,  290 

Vegetable  Growing  Projects,  61,  76  ff.,  99  ff., 

139,  159,  161,  194,  222  ff.,  232-233,  238 

ff.,  243  ff.,  250,  261 
Vivian,  Alfred,  171 
Vocational    Agricultural    Education,    19    ff. 

See  Table  of  Contents  for  topics 
Vocational   Education,  6-10.     See   Table   of 

Contents  for  topics 

W 

Wakefield  Agricultural  Department,  429 

Wareham  Courier,  138 

Warren,  G.  F.,  14,  74.  i55.  158,  168 

Waters,  H.  J.,  158,  184 

Watts,  R.  L.,  105,  159.  163 

Waugh.  F.  A.,  159.  161,  163,  ,169 

Weed,  Miss  S.  M.,  83-85 

Weed,  C.  M.,  169,  172,  173 

Weeds,  Books  on,  174 

West  Virginia  University,  348,  385 

Weymouth     Branch     of     Norfolk     County 

Agricultural  School,  379,  429 
Wheeler,  H.  J.,  170 
\Mieeler,  Wilfred,  314 
Williams,  R.  W.,  439-440 
Wing,  H.  H.,  168 
Wing,  J.  E.,  161,  168 
Wood,  Miss  Ruth,  270,  432-434 
Worcester  Agricultural  Department,  427,  429 
Wright,  Carroll  D.,  8 


"Young  America's  Opportunity,"  11 


Zoology,  Books  on,  174 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America. 


BOOKS  ON  AGRICULTURE 


ON   TILLAGE: 

Bailey's  Principles  of  Agriculture Si. 40 

King's  The  Soil 1.75 

King's  Irrigation  and  Drainage       1.75 

Lyon,    Fippin    and    Buckman's    Soils :     Their    Properties   and 

Management 1.90 

Roberts's  The  Fertility  of  the  Land 1.50 

Snyder's  Soils  and  Fertilizers 1.25 

Voorhees's  Fertilizers 1.60 

Wheeler's  Manures  and  Fertilizers 1.75 

Widtsoe's  Dry  Farming 2.00 

ON  GARDEN-MAKING: 

Bailey's  Garden-Making -.     .  1.75 

Bailey's  Vegetable  Gardening 1.75 

French's  How  to  Grow  Vegetables 1.75 

ON  FRUIT  GROWING,  ETC.: 

Bailey's  Fruit  Growing 2.00 

Bailey's  Pruning  Manual 2.50 

Card's  Bush  Fruits        i-75 

Lodeman's  Spraying  of  Plants i.75 

ON   THE  CARE  OF  LIVE  STOCK: 

Jordan's  The  Feeding  of  Animals 1.75 

Lyon's  How  to  Keep  Bees  for  Profit 1.50 

Mayo's  Diseases  of  Animals 1.75 

Phillips's  Beekeeping 2.00 

Valentine's  How  to  Keep  Hens  for  Profit 1.50 

Watson's  Farm  Poultry 1.60 

ON  DAIRY  WORK: 

Eckles's  Dairy  Cattle  and  Milk  Production 1.60 

Snj'der's  Dairy  Chemistry- 1.50 

Wing's  Milk  and  Its  Products 1.60 

ON  PLANT  DISEASES: 

O'Kane's  Injurious  Insects 2.00 

Slingerland  and  Crosby's  Fruit  Insects 2.50 

Stevens  and  Hall's  Diseases  of  Economic  Plants 2.00 

ON  ECONOMICS  AND  ORGANIZATION: 

Fairchild's  Rural  Wealth  and  Welfare 1.50 

Green's  Law  for  the  American  Farmer 1.75 

Hunt's  How  to  Choose  a  Farm 1.50 

Ogden's  Rural  Hygiene i-6o 

Roberts's  The  Farmer's  Business  Handbook 1.50 

Weld's  Marketing  of  Farm  Products 1.60 


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Eckles  and  Warren's  Dairy  Farming 

jog  pages,  $1.20 

The  aim  of  this  book  is  to  discuss  the  points  that  are  of 
most  importance  to  the  farmer;  that  is,  to  answer  the 
farmer's  questions,  and  to  put  these  answers  in  the  form  of 
underlying  principles  rather  than  as  rules.  It  aims  to  give 
the  basic  principles  of  the  subject  without  being  superficial. 
It  aims  to  teach  underlying  principles  so  that  a  farmer  will 
know  how  to  change  his  practice  to  meet  everchanging 

conditions. 

The  chapters  of  the  book  indicate  its  scope  :  Importance 
of  the  Dairy  Industry;  Breeds  of  Cattle;  Selection  and 
Improvement  of  Dairy  Cattle;  Management  of  Dairy 
Cattle;  Feeding  Dairy  Cattle  ;  The  Dairy  Barn  ;  Common 
Ailments  of  Cattle;  Milk  and  Its  Products;  Conditions 
Affecting  the  Development  of  Dairying ;  Systems  of  Farm- 
ing on  Dairy  Farms ;  Methods  of  Renting  Dairy  Farms ; 
Cost  of  Production  and  Methods  of  Marketing;  Other 
Important  Factors  for  Success. 

Harper's  Animal  Husbandry 

^  4og  pages,  $1.40 

In  the  five  parts  into  which  the  book  is  divided  the  author 
treats  of  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  swine,  and  poultry,  and  each 
is  discussed  with  reference  to  breeds,  judging  the  anunal, 
feeding,  and  care  and  management.  There  is  also  a  chapter 
on  the  general  principles  of  feeding.  Practical  questions 
and  numerous  laboratory  exercises  supplement  the  text 
and  compel  the  student  to  think  through  each  subject  as 
he  proceeds.  The  book  is  extensively  illustrated.  De- 
signed for  use  as  a  textbook,  it  is  also  well  suited  for  use  as 
a  reference  book  in  schools  in  which  time  limitations  make 
it  impossible  to  use  it  as  a  text. 


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HIGH  SCHOOL  TEXTS  ON  CROPS  AND  TILLAGE 


Livingston's  Field  Crop  Production     424pages,  $i^o 

The  book  is  simple  and  non-technical  in  style  and  intensely- 
practical,  the  topics  treated  being  those  of  immediate  interest 
and  profit  to  students  who  expect  to  become  actual  farmers.  It 
points  out  the  "better  way"  of  raising  farm  crops,  of  selecting 
the  field,  of  preparing  the  soil,  of  sowing  the  seed,  of  cultivating 
the  plant,  of  harvesting  the  crop. 

After  an  introductory  view  of  the  whole  field  of  plant  life 
and  crop  rotation,  there  are  twenty  chapters  on  different  crops, 
for  example,  corn,  wheat,  oats,  barley,  rye,  rice,  buckwheat, 
perennial  grasses,  annual  grasses,  clovers,  alfalfa,  root  crops, 
fibre  crops,  etc.     There  is  a  chapter  also  on  marketing  grain. 

Harris  and   Stewart's  Principles  of  Agronomy 

430  pages,  $1.40 

Deals  with  the  practice  that  underlies  success  in  crop  pro- 
duction and  will  be  welcomed  by  those  schools  that  emphasize, 
in  the  agriculture  course,  the  field  crop  studies.  The  student 
is  introduced  in  this  book  to  the  four  elements  that  will  affect 
his  success  in  raising  crops  for  market.  First,  the  nature  of  the 
plant  and  its  activities ;  then,  the  composition  of  soils ;  next, 
the  characteristics  of  the  principal  field  crops  and  details  re- 
garding their  cultivation  and  care ;  finally,  the  principles  of 
farm  management.  When  one  has  surveyed  the  subject  from 
these  four  points  of  view  he  has  a  clear  idea  of  what  is  involved 
in  the  practical  problem  of  crop  production.  He  sees  that 
results  are  determined  by  the  character  of  the  plant,  by  the 
soil,  and  by  the  management  as  well  as  by  the  crops  themselves. 

Lyon's  Soils  and  Fertilizers  2^3 pages,  $1.20 

The  subject  matter  is  presented  in  simple  non-technical  style 
and  presents  first,  ten  chapters  on  soil,  covering  such  topics  as 
Soil  Formations,  Texture  and  Structure  of  Soil,  Organic  Matter, 
Soil  Water,  Plant  Food  Materials,  Acid  and  Alkali  Soils.  There 
are  nine  chapters  on  fertilizers.  First  the  four  or  five  general 
types  are  discussed  and  then  such  applied  practice  as  The 
Purchase  and  Mixing,  and  The  Use  of  Fertilizers,  Farm  Manures 
and  Green  Manures  and  Crop  Rotation. 


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Chemistry  and  Its  Relations  to  Daily  Life 

By  LOUIS  KAHLENBERG,  Professor  of  Chemistry,  and  EDWIN  B.  HART, 
Professor  of  Agricultural  Chemistry,  University  of  Wisconsin. 

Cloth,  i2mo,  III.,  jgj pages,,  $i.2j 

This  book  outlines  a  year's  work  for  students  of  agriculture 
and  home  economics  in  secondary  schools.  The  subject  matter 
is  thoroughly  practical  in  character  and  it  is  presented  in  a 
simple,  interesting  manner.  Chemical  formulas  are  introduced, 
but  merely  as  an  aid  in  expressing  facts  in  simple,  compact  and 
convenient  form.  Questions  follow  each  chapter,  and  in  a 
chapter  at  the  close  of  the  book  are  definite  suggestions  for 
about  a  hundred  and  fifty  practical  laboratory  experiments. 
These  include  besides  the  usual  chemical  experiments  of  the 
elementary  course,  several  problems  not  usually  attempted, 
such  as  the  bleaching  action  of  various  acids,  the  preparation 
of  soap,  the  absorbing  power  of  carbon,  antidotes  for  many 
poisons,  etc. 

The  practical  character  of  the  book  and  its  adaptability  to 
meet  the  needs  of  the  home  and  the  farm  are  indicated  by  the 
chapter  headings,  among  which  are :  The  Composition  and 
Use  of  Water ;  Carbon  and  Its  Compounds ;  The  Metals  of 
the  Alkalies  and  the  Alkaline  Earths ;  Paints,  Oils  and  Var- 
nishes ;  Leather,  Silk,  Wool,  Cotton  and  Rubber ;  The  Soil ; 
Commercial  Fertilizers  ;  Farm  Manures ;  The  Animal  and  Its 
Feed ;  Human  and  Animal  Foods ;  Milk  and  Its  Products ; 
Poisons  for  Farm  and  Orchard  Pests. 


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